You Make Me Feel Alive Again
by peacelovevampires777
Summary: Bonnie had been told stories her entire life of the two vampire brothers who fell in love with her vampire ancestor, Katherine, 145 years ago. What happens when she meets one of them and falls in love? Sorry, I'm really not good at summaries.
1. Intro

**Chapter 1 – Love at first bite**

**Okay, so this is my first fanfic. I really hope you guys like it! This story picks up from episode 10, except without the part where Elena found the picture of Katherine and got in the car accident. There was never an Emily or Emily's necklace or pretty much any of episode 9. Bonnie, like in the show, has no mother and lives with her father. Instead of Emily, Bonnie is a descendant of Katherine, which I know doesn't make any sense...but it's the only way I could get the story to work. You'll see what I mean. Also, Bonnie has never met Stefan before, or Damon. In my story, Damon is 19. They never say how old he is in the TV show or the books, so I decided that he is 19. He looks older than 19, but vampires are supposed to look older than they really are. And he had to be within the age-range of Bonnie/Elena/Stefan. **

**Bonnie:**

"I have to pick up something across the street. Meanwhile, why don't you have a look in that jewelry store? I mean, the dance IS tomorrow and you haven't found a necklace to go with your dress yet." Elena suggested.

"I don't know if I'm GOING to the dance. I don't even have a date! Your going with Stefan, Caroline's going with Matt—who am I supposed to go with?" Bonnie complained.

"Bonnie Bennett, you are going and that's final! Go on, pick out something nice."

"Alright, fine! Maybe I'll go with _Tyler_."

"Ugh, don't even jokeabout that. He's been acting like such a _creep _around you lately." Elena said.

"I know. Okay, meet me at the jewelry store when you're done." Bonnie said as she walked away.

As Bonnie started toward the small shop with an illuminated fluorescent sign gleaming in the window, she had the oddest sensation. It was as if someone, or something, inside her was telling her not to go in, yet another part was telling her that something amazing was waiting on the other side of the tinted glass of the door. "_Oh, now you're just being silly" _Bonnie thought, as she swung the door open.

She was impressed; the store did have quite a selection of things. Everything from beautiful strands of pearl necklaces to gold charm bracelets were carefully laid out everywhere. But what really caught her eye was a thin and elegant silver chain with a single diamond pendant dangling off the end. She picked it up and turned on her heel to check the price of the beautiful necklace with one of the store clerks, but before she even made it even three feet away, she smacked right into a dark leather jacket.

**Damon:**

"Maybe, brother, you have never _been_ into a jewelry store, so allow me to enlighten you. Jewelry stores are filled with a bunch of women, gasping and shrieking over little shiny rocks! So no, I will most certainly _not_ go pick up a necklace for your precious Elena." Damon insisted.

"Considering you have recently murdered my best friend, killed Vicki, and hurt Caroline, I would say you owe me quite a few favors, don't you?" Stefan said.

"I owe you nothing. And if I do remember correctly, _you _were the one to kill Vicki, am I right? All I did was turn her into a vampire." Damon said in fake innocence, with a smirk at his younger brother. "but I suppose," he continued, "that I could help you. Perhaps I have been a little…careless lately." He finished, knowing the word "careless" was a huge understatement, but he prided himself in knowing exactly how to get on his little brother's nerves.

"Now what did you say the inscription on the necklace that I absolutely _must _pick up from the store was again? Something along the lines of "Oh Elena, my pathetic teenage existence means nothing without you. And last night was so very—" but Damon was cut off, because he had to dodge the object that was being thrown at his face from across the room. Stefan just glared at him. "Alright! I'll go!" Damon said, chuckling on his way out the door.

Damon, inhaling a deep breath in preparation, swung open the door to the jewelry store. He was then overcome with the strong smell of at least twenty different strong perfumes, but one scent in particular stood out from the rest. He knew what it was immediately—human blood. "_Whoever this person was_, he thought, _they smelled even better than Elena_." And that was saying a lot. He tried to pinpoint where the scent was coming from, but was having some trouble. The smell seemed to come at him from all sides, causing his fangs to slightly extend, but even as he took steps in different directions, it did not seem to lessen or grow stronger. He could feel his upper canines beginning to protrude from his gums, and veins becoming more and more visible underneath his eyes. Irritated, he whipped his head around, trying to locate the mysterious scent.

At that moment, a few things occurred to him. For one thing, he probably looked quite strange, turning from side to side and stepping in different directions. Also, he needed to calm down. If his eyes started to turn red, he was certain that someone would notice, and he would have to kill everyone in the store, or running and screaming was sure to ensue. After checking that he no longer had the appearance of the devil, and his thought becoming more rational, he finally discovered who he was looking for, and began to walk toward it. He saw a figure with dark skin and chocolate brown curls that fell halfway down her back, and she was studying a necklace on the display stand. He couldn't see her face, but he could see her _neck_, even if it was only partially exposed. He could see that it was soft and flawless and a perfect spot for him to bite into. All he had to do was lure her outside…

And then she turned to face him. The turn was so sudden that at first he thought she had heard him behind her, but that was impossible. But Damon was now looking right at her, and, for a moment, he forgot all of his earlier plans of luring her outside and sucking her dry. For a moment, he just looked at her. He studied the round, innocent, brown eyes, now widened with surprise, and her high cheekbones. His eyes traced along the planes of her perfect skin, her jaw line, and the softer curves of her full lips. Her skin looked so gentle and soft to Damon, and he had a strange urge to reach out and stroke it. "_An indescribable beauty_," he thought, and could find no fitting adjectives to match her beautiful complexion. "_Perfection would be an understatement…_", he thought dazedly, but then his thoughts were shattered abruptly. He straightened, wondering what had just happened. "_That was odd_," Damon thought_. "I haven't thought about anyone like that since_—" but the thought was never finished, because the unique girl had parted her beautiful lips to speak. And for some reason, he was eager to hear whatever the angel had to say. But the two simple words she said left him dazed and confused.

"It's you."

**What did you think? Chapter 2 will be up ASAP. Also, I have a blogger account, where I mostly talk about Vampire Diaries and do recaps of the episodes, and I have a link on my profile. **


	2. I dream about you

**Oh, and, by the way, I realized that I left out a bit of explanation in the last chapter. This story is kind of like a re-writing of book 2, just with a twist. And Bonnie is staying over at Elena's house for the weekend, because her dad is on a business trip. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, I just bring back their memories.**

**Bonnie**

Bonnie Bennett stumbled backwards, before looking up into the gorgeous face of the boy she had just ran into. But it was not the face of any ordinary boy she was gazing into. Those secretive and mesmerizing ice blue eyes could not even compare to the eyes of any other person in the world. His gorgeous face, which, she knew, was a mask, and behind it hid dark and painful secrets of his past. And as she looked at him, from his Italian shoes to his dark and silky hair, she was almost distracted by how inhumanly beautiful he was. "_Inhumanly beautiful_," she thought, "_because he wasn't human._" He was the boy that had been in her dreams—and nightmares—since she was ten years old, and her grandmother had told her the story of her ancestor, Katherine.

"_Katherine was a very pretty woman, but her beauty was just bait, a way to lure in her victims" her grandmother had said. After a pause, she had continued. "Your ancestor, Katherine, was a vampire." Her grandmother had then explained what vampires were and how they could live amongst humans without going undetected. _

"_I don't understand what this has to do with the picture in my locket." 10-year-old Bonnie had said confusedly._

"_The boy in the picture's name is Damon Salvatore. He and his younger brother, Stefan, were both in love with her, and they fought over her. She made them both vampires, before she died. And they may still be out there somewhere. For now, all we have is her locket, and she kept a picture of Damon in it. She had a locket with a picture of Stefan, also, and she wore them both, but no one knows where it is. The locket we do have is yours now. It has been passed down for years."_

_Bonnie had then opened the locket and gazed once again into Damon Salvatore's eyes._

"_I dream about him, sometimes." Bonnie had admitted timidly. She could see her grandmother was expecting her to continue, so she did. "In my dreams, I'm watching—or, feeling—all of the pain he went through. I always feel just awful for him." _

_Her grandmother had smiled condescendingly. "It's because you're a witch," she had reminded Bonnie. "and it's natural to dream about your ancestors in the past…or your children in the future. And I also understand how you could feel so sorry for Damon. But he could be cruel—"_

"_But no one deserves heartbreak."_

Bonnie shook herself out of the memory and came back to the moment.

"It's you." She repeated, her voice reduced to only a tiny whisper.

The gorgeous face had a perplexed expression on it, and the hypnotizing deep blue eyes were fixed on hers. In an instant, the tight line of his mouth melted into a charming smile. Having heard stories about this boy her entire life, she could hardly believe that he was standing there, smiling at her. After all of the hours she had spent thinking about him, and all of the pain he went through, thinking that he would always be second best to his younger brother, she had a sudden urge to wrap her arms around him and tell him that Katherine was cruel and awful and didn't deserve him. But the small part of her brain that retained sanity held her back. _"Oh stupid, stupid, stupid." _she thought to herself_. "He has no idea who you are!"_ But she could clear that up, couldn't she? Shouldn't she be able to trust him with her secret? Of course…._unless_….unless this was just someone who happened to look similar to Damon. "_Like Katherine and Elena"._ she thought. Maybe he was just a boy. A wave of embarrassment came over her, as she realized, if he really _wasn't_ a vampire, that now she would have to explain why she just said "It's you", quite conspicuously. What could she say? "_Oh, I'm sorry, I mistook you for a vampire that I just happen to have a picture of in my 145 year old necklace._" She doubted that would work.

"What was that?" he asked politely.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry, I, uh, thought you were someone I…knew." And she walked away before she said anything _really_ stupid, hoping he wouldn't try and follow her. At that moment, she heard the shrill voice of the store cashier.

"Mr. Salvatore, your order is ready." This made Bonnie freeze. As she turned slowly back toward the front of the store, she saw the boy go up to the woman and take a small bag from her hands.

"Thank you." He said in a calm and silky voice, flashing the woman a brief but dazzling smile.

This was definitely not a coincidence, no one looked exactly like someone, and had the same _last name_ as them, unless they were twins, or the same person. And if one of the people was alive in 1864, and the other in 2009…

Then that meant that she was within 20 yards of Damon Salvatore…a vampire. Disbelief, curiosity, and determination coursed through Bonnie, and she, completely unafraid, strode over to the other end of the store, and with a deep breath, she tapped Damon on the shoulder twice.

**Damon**

Damon turned around to find the petit girl he had just talked to moments ago looking at him with her hands placed squarely on her narrow hips and a set jaw. Her chin was tilted up confidently and she was looking him straight in the eye. He raised his eyebrows inquisitively and cocked his head to the side while meeting her gaze and looking into her eyes, but not using his powers of compulsion on her. He watched as her face began to soften and her lips parted, taking complete advantage of the mesmerizing effect he had on women. Shaking her head once, she asked him a question.

"Are y-you D-Damon Salvatore?" she stuttered.

"Yes." He answered, without a moment of consideration. "Do I know you?" he asked, curious as to how this beautiful girl knew his name.

"No, but you knew one of my…family members. Um—come with me." The girl grabbed Damon's hand and pulled him toward the back of the store. He was bewildered, but he allowed the girl to lead him wherever she pleased. She stopped in a corner, near a selection of designer watches.

"Okay, well, I know this sounds weird but—I'm related to Katherine Pierce who I am pretty sure you knew in 1864 and my grandmother has been telling me stories about you and your brother my entire life and she knows about vampires because me and my grandmother are witches and oh I also have this locket that used to belong to Katherine and it has a picture of you in it—"

"Okay, okay, breathe." Damon murmured soothingly, and put his hand on her shoulder. As the girl took a breath in and he eyed her incredulously. Having calmed down, she was able to speak again.

"I'm Bonnie." she added stiffly.

"I'm Damon." He said. "But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"And you're related to Katherine."

"Yes."

"And you know, to some extent, what happened in 1864."

"Yes. I know what—the things that happened to you. And how she broke your heart. And I'm so sorr--"

Bonnie's words were beginning to rip open a familiar hole in Damon's chest, a hole that had been locked up tightly for more than a century, and a hole that he did not want to be opened again. And he knew that he had to change the subject fast, before the numbness would begin to peel away and he would _feel_ again.

"But do you know what I've been doing since then?" Damon asked, removing his hand from her shoulder.

"Umm…no?" Bonnie said, but it sounded more like a question than a statement.

"I kill. I kill _humans_ like you. Well, maybe you're not quite a human, but you still have blood. Delicious blood, in fact, that I wouldn't think twice about drinking from your pretty little neck. So I would be a little more careful in the future about who you decide to feel sorry for." Damon finished and ripped the small silver locket off her neck.

Damon turned sharply away and burst out the door of the jewelry shop. As he slowly sank down onto the bench outside the small store, he began to feel something that he couldn't identify. It wasn't the same lingering pain he had felt while talking to Bonnie, but a new feeling, that definitely wasn't good. He racked his brain for a memory of when he had felt this before, and then, he remembered. It was remorse. He had felt it before only once, and he was still human then. It was the first time that he had kissed Katherine.

"_I love you, Damon." Katherine had whispered in his ear, causing shivers to go all the way down Damon's spine. She began to kiss his neck, from his ear to his collarbone, and all he could feel for a moment was the pleasure and his own pulse racing. Then, he realized what was happening, and pushed her away._

"_What are you doing, Katherine? Stefan is my brother." Damon had said firmly._

"_Brothers should share things, you know." Katherine said hungrily and started towards him again, but he moved out of her way. Katherine had looked hurt, but decided to take a different approach. She had casually strolled over to him and tilted his chin up with her index finger, exposing his bare neck._

"_Mmm." She had sighed, contentedly. Suddenly, her expression turned serious and she looked him in the eye. "You are in love with me. You will do anything I ask you to do. You will not tell Stefan anything. Repeat." Katherine commanded, using her powers of compulsion on him._

"_I love you. I will do anything for you. I will not tell Stefan anything." Damon repeated obediently._

"_Good." Katherine said approvingly, smiling wickedly. "Very good." And she took his hand and led him off the moonlit balcony, through the French doors of the old house, and into her bedroom. And for a moment, Damon had felt a twinge of guilt…but mostly he had just felt love._

And that was what he felt now, guilt. But that was ridiculous, he couldn't actually be feeling guilty about what he had said to Bonnie, could he? He thought, as he felt the weight of the delicate little necklace in his pocket. He didn't have the time to think about it for long, because his brothers car pulled up on the curb and he got in the passenger seat, grateful to be as far away from _her_ as possible.

**If you are confused, the thing about the dreams meant that Bonnie's grandmother had been telling her all of the vampire stories and Bonnie knows everything about Stefan and Damon. The stories had caused her to have psychic dreams about Katherine, Stefan, and Damon, but Damon always stood out to her because she felt sorry for him. Sorry if it was confusing, but I had to put it in this chapter to sort of 'set up' the story. **

**Review please!**

**Preview for next chapter:**

"I don't mind talking about her. However, I do find it interesting that you chose _me_ to pity, over my brother. And, by the way, I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. I didn't mean to be rude." He said with a smirk.

"Look, you don't have to be nice to me. I know that the last thing you probably want is to be reminded of Katherine, and you don't have to be. You _can_ stay just stay away from me." Bonnie repeated timidly.

"Oh, Bonnie," Damon sighed her name soothingly, "I don't _want_ to stay away from you." Bonnie looked up at him then, looking vulnerable and shy and a little scared, as Damon smiled at her.


	3. I don't want to stay away from you

**Thank you all for your kind reviews! Much appreciated!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters…I just put them in awkward situations!**

**Bonnie**

With her head pressed up against the cool glass of the car window, Bonnie felt more relaxed and rational than she had just moments ago. Elena was in the drivers seat, driving towards her house.

"You're going to love Stefan, I swear." Elena said, still discussing tonight's plans to take Bonnie to visit her boyfriend's house.

"I know, you've told me a thousand times!" Bonnie snapped back at her, instantly regretting it. "Sorry." She apologized.

"Are you okay, Bonnie?" Elena asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah…I'm fine. Just—okay, do you remember when I told you about the stories that Grams was telling me? About my great-great-great-great-grandmother?"

"Yes…about the two…brothers…who both fell in love with…" Elena paused throughout her sentence, as realization dawned on her.

"The woman named Katherine, who looked exactly like you." Bonnie finished. Then she took a big breath, it was time to tell Elena the _whole_ story this time. "The vampire."

"WHAT?!" Elena pulled over to the side of the road, looking bewildered and slightly disbelieving. Bonnie just looked at the floor of the car.

"Katherine was a…vampire." Bonnie repeated.

"You know about vampires?" Elena asked, to Bonnie's surprise.

"YOU know about vampires?" Bonnie countered. Both of the girls just stared at each other for a long minute, until Bonnie finally realized. _"Well, she must know Damon. You don't live in the same town as a girl who looks exactly like your old girlfriend as a coincidence." _Bonnie thought. But if Damon was here…than where was Stefan? The answer came almost as quickly as the question.

"Elena…" Bonnie began slowly. "What is Stefan's last name?"

"Salvatore. He…and his brother, Damon…are vampires."

"I know." Bonnie said. "And I think I just met one of them." Instinctively, she reached for the silver locket around her neck, but remembered that Damon had taken it. At first, this made her sad and angry, but if anyone had a right to have it, it was Damon. "_Besides_," she thought, "_I think I'll be seeing him tonight_." But first, she had to explain all of this to Elena.

**Damon**

Damon Salvatore was good at keeping himself busy. Yes, he had been frozen as a nineteen-year-old boy for nearly 150 years, but he had never once been bored. Somehow, he always managed to find something to pass the time. But tonight, all that was left to do was think. And Damon had a lot to think about.

It wasn't that he had any desire to sort through the flurry of emotions that he was strangely feeling. He just simply had nothing else to do. He didn't even want to _think _about what he had done when he got home from his little excursion of picking up Stefan's order from the jewelry store, because he didn't understand why he'd done it. Or why he _hadn't _done it. He had been so convinced that killing a few locals was just what he needed to get his mind off things, but it only made it worse. His pointed teeth were only a few centimeters away from his victim's neck, but he found himself unable to bite into the warm flesh in front of him. Instead, he had just turned away from the person, erased their memory of him, and let them go free, because killing reminded him of what he had said to Bonnie that afternoon, which brought back that awful feeling of…guilt. He shuddered. He thought he was limited to only a few emotions, those being thirst, anger, and humor, but for some reason, something had changed.

When he was around _her_, everything changed.

"_Stop it!" _he commanded himself. He probably would never see her again. Even with that in mind, he thought of when he had gone _back_ to the jewelry store just hours ago, for a reason that he couldn't explain, and bought the necklace that Bonnie had been looking at earlier…but he shook himself out of the thought, and remembered Stefan had told him that Elena was bringing a friend over tonight, and that Damon either would have to be on his best behavior or leave. But he just couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet yet another beautiful girl tonight. Unless it was Caroline. "_Ugh._" He thought. He had had enough of Caroline, and he was certain that she was put out with him, as well, but he did his best to avoid her just in case. Just then, the doorbell rang, and he walked down the spiral staircase.

**Bonnie**

Bonnie faced the old antique-looking door, with her Elena by her side, and rang the doorbell twice. She was excited to meet Stefan, but also nervous, because Elena had told him everything about what had happened today. After a brief moment of waiting, it finally swung open. Although she had seen him earlier today, the sight of Damon still made her gasp. He was wearing a black button-down shirt and jeans. His dark and silky hair was arranged in a casual disarray, and his face now wore a confused expression.

"Damon." Elena regarded him coldly. "I suppose you've met Bonnie already."

"Yes, I have. We had quite an interesting conversation earlier." Damon said, bewilderment turning to sarcasm on his face, but never taking his eyes off Bonnie. "_Why in the world is he _looking _at me like that?" _Bonnie thought. Just then, another handsome face appeared in the doorway.

"Stefan!" Elena said with a smile.

`Bonnie watched in awe as Elena's face lit up when she saw Stefan, and so did his. For a moment, they just gazed into each other's eyes, and Bonnie felt that even though neither of them had said anything, she was intruding on a personal moment. Stefan cupped Elena's face in his hands and kissed her softly on the lips. Bonnie turned back to Damon, and saw that he was looking away from them, into the night. "_Of course,"_ Bonnie thought, _"Seeing Stefan and Elena together must be so hard for Damon. It probably reminds him of seeing Stefan and Katherine together…"_ but her thought was never finished, because it was shattered by the smooth and confident voice of Damon.

"Come inside." He suggested, and held the wooden door open.

**Damon**

Looking into those brown eyes for the second time today, Damon finally connected the dots. He had been looking forward to an evening with Elena and one of her many beautiful friends, to take his mind off what Bonnie had made him feel. But Bonnie _was_ Elena's friend, and she was indeed looking beautiful tonight. Curls cascaded off her shoulders and an emerald green dress hung down to her knees. She was much shorter than him, and very slender. His eyes traveled again from her face to her neck. He imagined leaning toward that little neck, as if he were going to whisper in her ear, and planting soft kisses on it. Then, he would part his lips and let his teeth pierce the skin there, feeling every beat of her heart as he drank her warm blood…but he awoke out of his trance and averted his eyes.

"Come inside." He said, and opened the door like a gentleman for this lovely girl, while the three of them walked inside.

"Hi, I'm Stefan." Stefan said, extending his hand to Bonnie.

"I'm Bonnie." She said, with a breathtakingly beautiful smile as she shook his hand.

Dinner was awkward between Damon and Bonnie, sitting across the table from one another. Stefan and Elena kept up most of the conversation, and Bonnie would occasionally bring up a topic or murmur in agreement of something. Damon couldn't add much to the conversation, because they mostly talked about school, so he just looked at Bonnie every chance he got, occasionally flashing her a smile. Luckily, they stayed off the topic of the afternoon. It was only after dinner, that Damon asked Bonnie to meet him out on the porch.

"I think," Damon said once he and Bonnie were alone, "that we need to talk."

"No, we don't. I understand if you don't want to talk about…her. And I understand if you want to stay away from me. Just know that you can talk to me." Bonnie said.

"I don't mind talking about her. However, I do find it interesting that you chose _me_ to pity, over my brother. And, by the way, I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. I didn't mean to be rude." He said with a smirk.

"Look, you don't have to be nice to me. I know that the last thing you probably want is to be reminded of Katherine, and you don't have to be. You _can_ stay just stay away from me." Bonnie repeated timidly.

"Oh, Bonnie," Damon sighed her name soothingly, "I don't _want_ to stay away from you." Bonnie looked up at him then, looking vulnerable and shy and a little scared, as Damon smiled at her.

"So, why don't I tell you a little story?" Damon asked as he sat down on a wooden bench on the porch, gesturing for Bonnie to sit beside him. Despite her intuition, she sat down beside him, eager to hear about the life of Damon Salvatore.

* * *

**What did you think of this chapter? This chapter was more just to set up the story, and I promise that next chapter will be much better. Review please!**

**Preview for the next chapter:**

"Shhh…" he murmured into her curls, just then noticing the close proximity of his face to her neck. If he only inclined his face down a bit more towards her, he could just about touch his lips to that soft neck….

But he knew he wouldn't. Because no matter how delicious she smelled, he wouldn't dare break this perfect moment.

**Posted with love,**

**Sydney**


	4. In your arms

** I know I'm posting kind of rapidly, but I already have up to chapter 7 done, so I figured I might as well just get them on as quickly as possible. I think I will get chapter 5 up right after this, and chapter 6 late tonight/tomorrow morning.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, I just give them hugs!**

**Flashback time!!!!**

* * *

"Katherine…" Damon moaned as she continued her trail of kisses down his bare chest. **(A/N: Damon shirtless = yum!)**

"Yes, Damon?" Katherine sighed as she kissed his jaw line hungrily.

"Let's run away, together. Just you and me." Damon suggested. He was shocked when Katherine pulled back to look at him seriously.

"We _can't _run away, Damon."

"Why not? I love you. I love you more than anything in the world."

"I love you as well, but what about your brother? Wouldn't you miss him terribly?" Katherine asked.

"My brother is young and stupid. The women _always_ fall for Stefan. Stefan is _always_ accepted by my father. And Stefan _never _does anything wrong. I _hate_ my brother." Damon said disgustedly.

"You don't mean that. I love your brother; I love both of you."

"Why can't it just be _me_? Is my love alone not good enough for you?" Damon asked, wounded and bitter. Katherine sighed.

"You both have your…benefits." She said. "You have both given me so much…" Katherine trailed off, looking deeply into Damon's blue eyes. "And now…I want to give something to you."

Katherine pulled her thin wrist up to her mouth, cut it with her sharp teeth, and held it up to Damon's mouth. "Drink." She commanded. Damon did as he was told, and Katherine's eyes began to close and her lips parted in pleasure. Her breathing went heavy as she leaned toward Damon and bit into his neck, allowing the glorious taste of warm blood to flow between her teeth.

* * *

"_Damn you, brother!" _Damon thought, as he watched Stefan lead Katherine onto the dance floor. Jealous rage flared up inside Damon as he watched them dancing and spinning gracefully. She had chosen _him _to escort her to the Founder's party, and she had chosen _him _to dance with, right in front of Damon. Everyone else was watching them, as well, commenting on what a beautiful couple they were. They all knew about Katherine and Stefan, but none of them knew about her and Damon, and it seemed that Katherine had every intention of keeping it that way. It wasn't fair that Katherine only wanted people to know that she loved Stefan, and it made Damon feel like she was ashamed of him. Still, she was everything to him, and even as he was watching her dance with his own brother, all he could think about was how much he completely loved and adored her. When they were turned so that Stefan's back was to Damon, Katherine shot Damon a quick glance and gave him a secret possessive smile, and Damon smiled warmly in return.

* * *

_**(A/N: end of flashback time. **__** sorry. There will be more soon.)**_

**Bonnie**

"Oh my god." Bonnie said stunned. They both stood up and were now leaning on the wooden ledge on the other side of the porch. "I don't understand. Why couldn't she choose between you and Stefan?"

"You think I don't wonder that every day?" Damon said listlessly. The story had made Bonnie incredibly sad, and the grief she felt for Damon was worse than anything she had ever felt after waking up from one of her dreams about him. Overcome with emotion, she did something that was strange and unexpected and probably not very smart.

She stepped forward and embraced him.

**Damon**

Sadness was quickly replaced with shock, confusion, and finally, warmth, because no one had _touched_ him like this in a very long time. Most humans tend to avoid vampires by instinct, because they naturally gave off a dangerous vibe, but this girl was different. _This _girl was not afraid of him at all. She, unlike Elena, had taken Damon's side, over his saintly brother's, and that was all Damon needed. She had even gone as far as to _hug _him around the waist, and she was still hugging him now, not because she was being compelled or tricked or lied to, but because she simply felt sorrow for him. He uncertainly wrapped his arms around her thin torso, and he felt her begin to shake under his body. He leaned back to look at her face, and saw that it was streaked with tears. Her mascara was running down her face and her eyes were red and swollen, but she was still a beautiful sight. She pressed her face into his chest again, and he gently stroked her hair.

"Shhh…" he murmured into her curls, just then noticing the close proximity of his face to her neck. If he only inclined his face down a bit more towards her, he could just about touch his lips to that soft neck….

But he knew he wouldn't. Because no matter how delicious she smelled, he wouldn't dare break this perfect moment.

"Oh god, I'm sorry." Bonnie said apologetically. "I got your shirt all wet."

"It's fine." Damon said, releasing her from his grasp.

Gently, he wiped her tears away with his long, slender index finger. After what had just happened—whatever had just happened—could the girl really be concerned about crying on his shirt? Dizzily, the girl stumbled backwards, and Damon caught her shoulders and steadied her. And for a moment, he just held on. But then, the moment was gone and Damon removed his hands from her shoulders.

"Bonnie." Damon said, but it came out in a whisper. "This belongs to you." He took the small silver locket out of his jean pocket. He then walked around behind her, lifted up her smooth hair, and fastened the necklace in place, making sure that his hands never touched her neck. "So does this…" he added, taking another necklace out of his pocket. Damon saw recognition on Bonnie's face; it was the same necklace she had been looking at in the jewelry store. He placed it in her palm and folded her fingers over it.

"It's…it's the necklace. How did you…?" Bonnie asked.

"I saw you looking at it. It was the least I could do." Damon responded.

"Thank you, Damon." She said.

"My pleasure." He mumbled.

There was nothing more to say, so Bonnie turned and went back inside the house, leaving Damon, confused and flustered, standing alone in the dark.

* * *

**What did you think of this chapter? It's my favorite so far. I think Damon needed a hug…don't you? Review and there will be hugs for everyone!**

**Oh, and flashback #2 where Stefan and Katherine were dancing was inspired by the quote from Vampire Diaries (episode 4): "You and Katherine were the perfect couple. It was **_**hell**_** watching you dance with her."**

**Preview for the next chapter:**

Her neck was slashed open, and blood was pulsing out. He felt himself start to lose control, and his pupils were dilated with desire and thirst. He shook his head once, and focused at the task at hand; saving Bonnie. He bit into his own wrist, before bringing it up to Bonnie's soft lips. "_Come ON, Bonnie!" _he thought_. "Drink."_ But he

felt no pulse in her body, and no sense of life in her at all. "_I've lost her." _He thought, and in that instant, all he felt was pain.

**DUN DUNN DUNNNNN….**


	5. Dreams become Nightmares

**As promised, I put chapter 5 up within the hour of chapter 4. Chapters 6 & 7 will be up tomorrow. CHAPTER 7 SHALL BE AWESOME, I PROMISE YOU!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, I just warn them about hugging dangerous boys. Apparently Elena is taking care of that for me though.  
**

**Bonnie  
**

Giddy and exuberant, Bonnie walked—no, skipped—up the Gilbert drive way. She had always liked sleepovers, and she was spending the entire weekend at Elena's house because her father was away on a business trip, but that wasn't what was making her this happy. She he thought it might have something to do with the gorgeous boy she had just been with. Well, she had always sort of liked Damon, even before she knew him, just from the stories she had heard about him. She found him fascinating, unique, and beautiful. But the possibility of ever being _that_ close to him had always been implausible; it was like having a crush on a handsome teacher or movie star. But now, Damon was _real._ He was an actual person, not just a face in a black and white picture. He could talk to her, he could touch her…and he could hurt her_. "But he wouldn't do that, of course."_ She thought. Damon was a lot of things, but he wasn't evil. No one who allowed a girl he barely knew to hug him and cry on his shoulder could be evil. No matter what he claimed to be—or do—he isn't completely bad_. "I wont _let_ him be completely bad."_ She thought, and suddenly, she knew it was true. She would be seeing a lot more of Damon Salvatore, and she would tell him how great she thought he was every day if that's what it would take to heal the wounds of the past.

"Bonnie, wait." Elena called before Bonnie could escape upstairs. Bonnie winced. This was what she had been afraid of. "We need to talk." Bonnie turned slowly towards Elena in anticipation.

"Okay, about what?" Bonnie asked. Maybe if she played dumb, Elena would drop the subject.

"I saw you and Damon out on the porch." Elena stated.

"Oh, um, well, I can…explain? Uh…" Bonnie stuttered.

"I mean, Stefan and I weren't trying to eavesdrop, but you were both gone for ten minutes and we were starting to get worried."

"Oh."

"Do you want me to tell you _why_ we were getting worried, Bonnie?" Bonnie had the feeling Elena was going to tell her either way, so she nodded once.

"We were worried because Damon is a killer. He kills for fun, and all he cares about is power. Power and pleasure. And I'm starting to get worried that _you_ are going to fall under his little spell."

"Spell? Oh _please,_ Elena. Damon doesn't want anything from me."

"But you were—" Elena started, but Bonnie cut her off.

"He was telling me some stories about Katherine. Now _tell_ me something, Elena. Have _you_ or anyone else ever asked Damon for _his _side of the story?" Bonnie asked. "I don't know what Stefan told you, but the whole thing with Katherine wasn't a fairy tale. Not for Damon, at least. He loved and valued her more than he valued his own life." Bonnie hadn't meant for all of this to sound so mean, but for some strange reason the topic of Damon made her defensive. Regretfully, she looked up at Elena's shocked face.

"I'm sorry." Bonnie apologized, and walked upstairs. That night, Bonnie dreamt again of Damon Salvatore.

He was dressed in civil-war era clothing, and wore a concerned expression on his face. He was running towards something in the distance…. a burning building. She watched painfully as his expression turned from shock, to horror, to despair, all in one moment.

"Katherine!" he whispered. As he neared the burning church, she saw a man with a gun, and it all happened very quickly. One moment, Damon was running, panicked, and the next, there was the sound of a gunshot and Damon was lying dead on the ground, a bloody hole in his chest.

"NO!" Bonnie shot up out of bed, screaming and gasping for air. She flicked the bedside light on and tried to focus on breathing correctly. "_Only a dream_." She told herself. Still, as she fell back asleep, his words echoed in her mind.

"_I don't _want_ to stay away from you."  
_

**Damon**

"What's so special about her?" Stefan asked, while pulling on a t-shirt.

"How am I supposed to know?" Damon retorted "but she makes me feel…different."

"Right, and, you're _sure_ that you're not just repeating what happened with Caroline?" Stefan said bitterly. He barely had time to get out the last word before his brother had him in a chokehold.

"I am _quite_ sure." Damon growled.

"Really? Or is she just another pretty girl you plan to use for their blood?" Damon tightened his grip on Stefan's neck.

"You _really_ aren't very smart, are you, little brother?" Damon said, but released him.

Damon left his brother's bedroom and went into his own bedroom. He began to undress, and pulled on sweatpants. With a sigh, he blocked out all the memories of the day, and laid down on his bed, pulling up the covers around him and flicking off the light. But he couldn't escape from his own dreams.

In his dream, it was nighttime. Not surprising, because he was most comfortable at night, so it was only natural that he would dream about the night. He was walking along a dark road, and he came upon a figure, laying on the edge of the road, limp. "_Probably just a stupid deer." _He thought. But as he got closer to the figure, he saw that it was not an animal, but a human. Now, he was only about ten yards away, and he began to see curls around the person's head. Familiar curls…"_no."_ he thought, _"no no no no NO!" _Within seconds, he was knelt beside the girl. _Bonnie._ Her neck was slashed open, and blood was pulsing out. He felt himself start to lose control, and his pupils were dilated with desire and thirst. He shook his head once, and focused at the task at hand; saving Bonnie. He bit into his own wrist, before bringing it up to Bonnie's soft lips. "_Come ON, Bonnie!" _he thought_. "Drink."_ But he felt no pulse in her body, and no sense of life in her at all. "_I've lost her." _He thought, and in that instant, all he felt was pain. He pulled her limp body into his arms and felt a single tear roll down his cheek…

And then he woke up. He had been _crying_ over this girl, in his dream, and that, to Damon, was a sign that this couldn't be ignored any longer. Relief washed through him, as he realized that it had only been a dream, and she was all right. He wanted to see her now, to see that magnificent smile and those dark curls, but he couldn't. But Damon Salvatore always finds a way to do what he pleases.

**Oh, did I forget to mention in the 'next chapter preview' from episode 4 that the whole Bonnie-dying thing was only a dream? Silly me.**

**Review please!  
**

**Preview for next chapter: **

"That would be nice of you." Bonnie said. This made Damon freeze, because he hadn't done anything _nice _in a long, long time. Maybe erasing Jeremy's memory of Vicki had been helpful, but it was his fault that Vicki died anyway. And here this girl was, calling him _nice._ Bonnie always had such an odd effect on him.


	6. The Dance

**So, you may have noticed that I've been updating like crazy for the last two days, but I was home sick, and now that I'm feeling better I do have school to go to and everything. I will still update frequently, but probably not multiple chapters in one day. It will probably more like one chapter a day or every other day. The story is still one of my priorities, and updates will pick up again over Christmas break most likely. Actually, there's a certain chapter that I'm trying to time perfectly so that it gets posted as close to Christmas as possible, because I think it will be the perfect gift for my readers. You'll see what I mean. Enjoy chapter 6!**

**Bonnie**

Even Bonnie had to admit; she didn't recognize the girl in the mirror. Her dark hair was piled high onto her head in a sexy up-do, allowing a few curls fall down to frame her face. Her warm brown eyes were accentuated with dark green eye shadow, and framed with dark lashes that cast shadows down her face in the dim lighting. Her light brown cheeks had a rosy glow to them, and her lips looked full and pouty. Gold chandelier earrings cascaded down from her ears, drawing attention to her neck. Her dress was deep blue and strapless, with a slit up the side that showed off her thin legs. What she loved the most, however, was the diamond hanging from her neck that completed the simple elegance of the look. Bonnie looked beautiful, and she was ready for the dance.

As Bonnie and Elena walked through the double doors of the school gym, they saw that most of the people had already arrived. Nearly everyone was out on the dance floor, and everyone was having a good time. A few of the guys on the outside of the dancing cluster paused to gape at Bonnie and Elena as they walked by, but quickly turned away when they saw Stefan walk over to them and link arms with Elena.

"You look beautiful, love." Stefan whispered to Elena as he whisked her away onto the dance floor.

They had been at the dance for two hours, and Bonnie was beginning to get tired. She had danced with a few guys during the slow songs, but no one special. She heard the song switch, yet again, to another slow song. Bonnie saw Tyler approaching her from across the gymnasium, and she made a quick escape to the hallway. Once outside, she could faintly hear the beat of the song, still on it's first verse. "_It just isn't fair", _Bonnie thought. _"It seems like everyone has a date, except me." _Bonnie sat down on a bench in the deserted hallway.

"So this is Stefan's school?" Bonnie heard a voice behind her, making her jump up off the bench, and she saw Damon. He was dressed similarly to how he had been dressed the other night, except his button-down shirt was rolled up at the sleeves, showing off his muscular forearms.

"Oh, god, you scared me." Bonnie gasped.

She waited for him to say something, but he said nothing. Instead, he was just… _gazing_ at her. He looked her up and down, with eyes like...like an _animal._ His eyes traveled up her leg that was exposed from the slit in the dress, up her torso, until finally they reached her face. She felt uneasy, like he was about to attack her any moment, but she also felt hypnotized and even a little flattered, that he was looking at her like that. After what felt like years of silence, but was really only seconds, he spoke.

"Bella fanciulla," he said, in Italian. "What could a beautiful girl like you be doing sitting outside a dance? Shouldn't you be in _there_?" he asked. _"Beautiful?" _Bonnie thought, _"He thinks I'm _beautiful_?" _She had no idea what he had said in Italian, but it made her go weak at the knees.

"H-how did you get in? Do you have a date?" Bonnie asked.

"No, I don't have a date." Damon answered. "And I got in because…I can be very…persuasive sometimes." He took a step closer to her. "Do _you _have a date?" he asked.

"No." she said.

"Well then, would you like to dance?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Would you like to dance?" Damon repeated. Bonnie couldn't believe that _Damon Salvatore_, who could probably have any girl he wanted, was asking her to dance. It was unreal, like a scene out of a movie.

"Yes." She managed to squeak out.

As Bonnie Bennett reentered the gymnasium, the slow song still playing, every girl in the room's eyes turned to stare at her. Not because of her beautiful ruffled dress, or the way her makeup had been done to perfection, but because of the gorgeous young man who's arm was linked through her own.

**Damon**

Damon couldn't believe that he had resorted to this. But still, this was what teenagers did nowadays, and it was, under the circumstances, sort of enjoyable. Bonnie looked absolutely ravishing in her blue dress, and it clung to her in all the right places, not to mention the extremely tempting slit up the leg. He carefully placed a hand on either side of her slender waist, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He noticed that she was wearing the necklace that he had bought her, the one that he had seen her looking at in the jewelry store, and smiled, though he was unsure why it made him happy to see that she was wearing it.

At that moment, realization dawned on him. This girl that he was dancing with, _this_ girl was much different than any other girl he had ever known. So different, in fact, that even Damon couldn't put a name to the way he felt about her. All he knew was, she was the most beautiful maiden he had ever laid eyes on, and he wanted her. And Damon Salvatore _always_ gets what he wants.

That night, Damon and Bonnie danced three times. It wasn't that either of them particularly _liked_ dancing, but Damon felt compelled to keep her away from every boy there. He could not think of one person there that _deserved_ to dance with this beautiful girl. More than that, there was something that was just so _perfect_ about the way she fit into his arms, like the piece of a puzzle. As the night went on, he noticed Bonnie begin to yawn more and more often.

"Tired?" he asked her.

"Just a bit." She responded wearily.

"Would you like to leave?"

"Oh, um, well, yes, but I came with Elena, and I don't think she's ready to leave yet."

"I'll take you home. It's no trouble, really." He said with a charming smile. Bonnie tilted her head to the side, smiling that signature magnificent smile again, Damon noticed, and it warmed his heart. "_Or whatever is in the place of my heart, after 145 years of killing." _He thought.

"That would be nice of you." Bonnie said. This made Damon freeze, because he hadn't done anything _nice _in a long, long time. Maybe erasing Jeremy's memory of Vicki had been helpful, but it was his fault that Vicki died anyway. And here this girl was, calling him _nice._ Bonnie always had such an odd effect on him.

As they approached Stefan and Elena, the sight of Stefan's head resting on Elena's while they danced struck a familiar cord in Damon's mind, one that he refused to let enter his memory again, but Stefan abruptly stopped dancing when he saw Damon and Bonnie together and his face turned from shock to suspicion in a flash. Elena pulled away when she noticed Stefan stop, and her expression mirrored his.

"You know," Damon began, "You two are starting to look alike, like those people who look like their dogs. Be careful, Elena, I think your starting to have the brooding forehead thing going on." Damon teased nonchalantly. When he looked over at Bonnie, he saw that she was biting her lip, trying not to laugh.

"Why are you here, Damon?" Stefan questioned angrily.

"Why not? It's a dance, isn't it?"

"And what have you been doing?" Elena cut in.

"Dancing with Bonnie." Damon responded. He noticed how Elena and Stefan and Elena's eyes popped open wider at that, and smiled with satisfaction.

"You…were dancing with _him_?" Elena asked Bonnie incredulously.

"Yes, she was, in fact, dancing with _me_" Damon said, mocking Elena's tone of disbelief. "And we were having a great time, too, but now she wants to go home, and I intend to drive her home myself."

"Actually," Elena began, "we were planning on… meeting up for coffee after the dance, so…" Elena kept pausing throughout the sentence, as if she was making this all up as she went along, and Damon was sure that she was, just trying to figure out a way to keep Damon as far away from Bonnie as possible.

"Well that sounds fun, and we would be happy to meet you there, but Bonnie needs her sleep. I'll take her to our place, Stefan, and she can rest there." Damon said while smirking at his brother, flaunting his ability to get what he wanted out of every situation. Before either of them had time to object, he took Bonnie's hand and led her outside.

The drive to the Salvatore house was quiet, but not tense. Neither of them felt there was any need to fill the gaps in conversation. Damon had the heat turned up and the radio turned on to a low volume, and Bonnie had Damon's jacket draped around her thin shoulders. Although she tried to be sneaky about it, Damon was aware of every single time she cast a furtive glance at him.

"We're here." Damon said, his voice breaking the silence. Carefully, he unbuckled Bonnie's seatbelt and opened his car door, and was around the other side of the car to hold her door open for her before she could even lay a hand on the door's handle. Despite Damon's selfish ways, he had been raised a gentleman, so he extended one hand in assistance, and Bonnie held it graciously as she stepped out of the car.

"You go inside." He told her. "I'll be right in."

"Okay." She said, and he watched as the beautiful girl disappeared through the door of the Salvatore boarding house.

**Who else loved how Damon compared Stefan and Elena to the people who look like their dogs?**

**I think Damonnie fans are really going to enjoy the next chapter! A pretty important event happens. It was actually kind of hard to pick a section to put in the "preview for the next chapter" thing without giving too much away. **

**P.S. – "bella fanciulla" means " beautiful maiden" in Italian. **

**Preview for the next chapter:**

"I trust you." Bonnie said, and something unidentifiable tugged at Damon's heart.

And for some reason, that made everything okay. He wanted her blood, but more than that, he wanted _her_, and that meant preventing anyone from hurting her. Even preventing _himself_ from hurting her, but he was weak, and losing strength quickly. Damon let himself be pulled up so that his lips were just centimeters away from her throat. And then he…

**CLIFFHANGER! *diabolical laugh***


	7. I trust you

**Most of this scene is in Bonnie's perspective, except the last part of it is repeated, but in Damon's perspective. I really wanted to get Damon's feelings in there. I really hope you will love this chapter as much as I do.**

**Bonnie**

Bonnie looked around the giant house. It looked more like a museum than a home to her. She walked down a long corridor, towards a small wooden table at the end. When she reached the table, she saw only one thing on it; an old, faded photograph. "_Elena?" _she thought at first. With a gasp, she realized who it really was. _"Katherine." _She thought, reading the caption underneath. It said 1864 next to her name, the year Stefan and Damon were turned into vampires. The year Katherine died.

Bonnie heard a noise outside, causing her to drop the photo back onto the table. A cry of pain. _"What's _out _there?" _she thought. Her eyes snapped open as she realized, suddenly, that if the noise was coming from outside, and _Damon_ was still outside…

"Oh no. Oh, _God_, please no." she whispered as she tore down the hallway and ran outside onto the front lawn. There, she found Damon, laying on the ground, with a stake straight through his chest. She screamed.

"Bonnie!" he gasped, barely audible, "Stay—where you are. It might come b-back."

"_What_ might come back?!" she cried. "Who did this to you?" Ignoring his warnings, she rushed over and knelt beside him.

"I don't know." He admitted. "Whatever it was, it came at me from behind."

"Hold still, I have to get this…thing out of you."

"Bon—"

"Shh. I, uh, don't want to hurt you." She said nervously.

"Just pull it out." He coughed.

She didn't want to cause him any more pain, so she concentrated all of her powers on the area around the stake, spreading numbness over the afflicted area, trying to ensure that he felt nothing. She then pulled the stake out of his body, and he didn't even flinch. He was, however, still laying on the ground, and she knew she had to get him inside somehow.

She knew she couldn't carry him; she was definitely not strong enough for that, so she helped him up and brought his arm around her shoulder to balance him. Damon's face was flushed from pain, and his eyes were heavy-lidded and glazed over. Bonnie lead Damon to the door, opening it with her spare hand, and brought him inside. She tossed a blanket over the couch before laying him down gently onto it. The couch was wide, so she kneeled beside him on the soft cushions and began to unbutton his shirt, before removing it completely.

"I-I'm F-F-Fine" Damon choked out, attempting to get up.

"Oh, shut up, Damon, your obviously _not_ fine." Bonnie snapped, frustrated with his unwillingness to be helped, and pushed him back down, and he complied obediently.

Bonnie fluttered her hands around his midsection desperately, trying to think of what she could do to help him. She knew that she had to do something, because he was losing blood rapidly. A solution then dawned on her, but she knew it was dangerous. However, in that instant, she was able to put the fear aside to save him. Because for some reason, all that mattered was that he made it through this, and whoever—or, whatever—it was that did this to him, she would not let it have the satisfaction of killing Damon. Slinging one leg over his narrow waist, she carefully positioned herself in the valley of his hips, too worried to care about the awkwardness of this position.

"Damon, listen to me. I need you to do what I say. I need you to take my blood." Bonnie ordered.

"B-Bon-nie. N-n-no." Damon said. "It's t-too eas-y to lose con….trol with y-you."

"You won't hurt me, Damon." Bonnie said. "I trust you." Damon looked her in the eyes with unrecognizable intensity, and Bonnie wondered with a twinge of sadness how long it had been since anyone had said that to him.

His eyes then traveled down to her neck. Bonnie cupped the nape of his neck with her hands, and pulled his face carefully up to her throat. He hesitated, and then touched his lips to her neck. It felt like a kiss at first, to Bonnie, but then she felt his fangs pierce her skin. She gasped from the pain, but then the pain subsided and all she felt was the feeling of giving, of nurturing. When she had considered the thought of being bitten in the past, she assumed it would feel like your life was being sucked out of you, but this felt much different. She felt strong, but lightheaded at the same time, and most of all, connected to Damon. Like if her blood was in his body, that he would have a piece of her with him at all times, and it would keep him strong. She had saved him. He fell back onto the pillow of the couch, with his lips stained with blood and breathing heavily, and Bonnie collapsed with him, her head resting on his bare chest. Her eyes were closed, and she was concentrating on breathing, when she felt pressure on top of her head. Bonnie then realized that his hand was on her head, stroking her hair, which made Bonnie smile. His caresses were soft, comforting, and very, very sweet.

"Thank you." He murmured to her. "So much."

She then turned her head so that she was looking straight into his eyes. Their noses were touching, and it would have been so easy to kiss him…if she just inclined her head a little more…

The lock on the front door clicked, then, breaking the moment, and both Damon and Bonnie turned their heads toward the noise. Stefan and Elena were standing in the doorway, and Bonnie realized, embarrassed, what this must look like. They were seeing Bonnie, straddling a shirtless and panting Damon, with a crescent-shaped mark on her neck.

"Umm…" Elena began, startled. Bonnie cringed as she realized that they had a lot of explaining to do.

**Damon**

"I trust you." Bonnie said, and something unidentifiable tugged at Damon's heart.

And for some reason, that made everything okay. He wanted her blood, but more than that, he wanted _her_, and that meant preventing anyone from hurting her. Even preventing _himself_ from hurting her. But he was weak, and losing strength quickly. Damon let himself be pulled up so that his lips were just centimeters away from her throat, and he gently kissed her neck before biting into her. He grew nervous when he heard her gasp, but after that all he could sense was he warm blood entering his system. It tasted a thousand times better than anything he had ever tasted before, and the way he was drinking it was better, too. For the first time, Damon _enjoyed_ drinking someone's blood, for a reason other than the taste of it. He drank Bonnie's blood as gently and carefully as he could, but it was difficult to remain in control of his instincts. Beyond that, the sensation was slow, passionate, and sexy.

He released her then, but she still had her arms around him, and she was laying on the couch on top of him. He smiled with pleasure as he began to gently stroke her curls. He could feel every beat of her heart, and every breath that she took.

"Thank you so much." he whispered, unable to remember the last time he had thanked anyone after taking their blood.

Their bodies were so tightly pressed together, with hardly any space between them, and Damon was beginning to get _very_ comfortable with Bonnie's legs wrapped around his waist. She then moved so that her face was hovering above Damon's, and for a moment he thought she was going to...kiss him. And, with sudden alarm, he realized that he _wanted_ her to. But she never got the chance, because he heard a noise at the door, and turned to find Elena and his little brother standing in the doorway. "_The Damon-patrol has arrived."_ He thought grudgingly.

**Well, that must have looked bad! I wonder how Damon will charm his way out of this one.**

**This is definitely my favorite chapter so far. You have no idea how psychotic I felt, trying to figure out a way to hurt Damon so that this scene could happen. But he did get taken care of quite nicely, wouldn't you say?**

**Review please!**

**P.S. Sorry that there is no 'preview for the next chapter' today, but chapter 8 is giving me some trouble. I'm working on it. **


	8. The Definition of 'Different'

**Hey y'all, it's almost the end of the semester and apparently my teachers are having a competition to see who can give the most tests before Christmas break! **_**Apparently**_** they don't care about Damonnie chapter postings as much as I do! I could always have Damon deal with them….**

**Chapter 8 is here! Sorry if it isn't that great, I was kind of having writers block with this one.**

**Bonnie**

Alarmed, Bonnie pushed off Damon's chest and rolled off the couch, only to land with a _thud_ on the floor in between the couch and the coffee table. "_Crap!" _she thought dazedly.

"Very smooth. It's a couch, not a bed, you know." Damon teased, extending a hand to help her up. "Not that I would have minded if we _had_ been on a bed in that particular situation." He added under his breath.

Bonnie stood up, dusting herself off. At least the old Damon was back. "I um…forgot." She said.

"What's going on here, Damon?" Stefan asked suspiciously. Elena's mouth was hanging open and she was alternating between glaring at Damon and glancing worriedly at Bonnie.

"You _attacked_ her?! You attacked my best friend?!" Elena cried, rushing over to Bonnie and inspecting her wound. Damon barked out a laugh.

"Why do you _always_ blame everything on me, Elena? I didn't _attack _her. Bonnie, she…" Damon trailed off, turning to face Bonnie. "She saved my life."

"Bonnie, is that true?" Elena asked.

"I…uh… I guess so?" Bonnie stuttered.

"Someone staked me when I was outside, and Bonnie—" Damon began.

"Wait, what? Who was it?" Stefan asked.

"If I knew who it was do you think I would be standing here discussing it with all of you? They came at me from behind, I didn't see a thing." Damon said. "and Bonnie found me and brought me inside, and let me take her blood." They all turned to stare at Bonnie, then, and she looked between the three incredulous faces nervously.

"It was nothing, really. I have plenty of blood, so why not put it to good use?" Bonnie joked, attempting to lighten the mood.

She noticed that Stefan was looking at her strangely, as if he were trying to read something far away. It made her slightly anxious, so she averted her eyes over to Damon, who had his famous sarcastic smirk plastered on his face, still staring at her, so she just looked down at the floor to avoid both of the brother's stares.

"Well, I would love to stay and chat, but I've had a bit of a rough night. Goodnight ladies and…Stefan." Damon smirked.

He walked over to Bonnie and looked into her eyes again before taking her hand and kissing it softly. Bonnie felt heat rush to her cheeks and flushed a deep red under her light brown skin. "Goodnight Bonnie. And thank you, again." He opened his mouth like he was going to say something else, but he just turned and walked upstairs.

"Bonnie, I'm concerned." Stefan said after Damon disappeared.

"Why?" Bonnie asked.

"I think that Damon might be…influencing you…to do things."

"No, Stefan, I'm sure he's not."

"I know you think that, Bonnie, but you have to be careful. You have to stay away from him." Elena said.

"Look, I really appreciate it, but Damon didn't influence me to do anything. In fact, I practically had to force him into taking my blood." Bonnie stated.

"I know he didn't—this time. But you always have to be careful with Damon. Wait here for a minute." Stefan said. He disappeared for a minute, and then came back with a small bracelet.

"Take this." He said. "It's got vervain in it. Elena has a necklace, and this will protect you from Damon. His compulsion, at least."

Bonnie was about to object, but she saw that neither of them were going to change their minds, so she fastened the bracelet onto her wrist and thanked him.

* * *

"I still don't understand. You could have gotten yourself killed! Why did you let him drink your blood?" Elena demanded.

"Elena, Damon was dying. He was going to die. Are you telling me you wouldn't have done the same thing for Stefan?" Bonnie countered.

"That's different. And why are you comparing Stefan and I to you and Damon? Are you _interested_ in him or something?"

"Of course not! I mean, he's gorgeous and all, and his eyes are, well, kind of amazing…" Bonnie trailed off, and Elena narrowed her eyes.

"Right. Just don't take that bracelet off, ever." Elena turned and started to walk out the door of the guest bedroom.

"Elena?" Bonnie called. "Are they okay?" Elena paused in the doorway.

"Who?" Elena asked.

"Stefan and Damon. I mean…do they ever talk about Katherine?"

Elena sighed and sat back down on the bed. "Stefan's mentioned her a few times. I've never heard Damon talk about her. To tell you the truth, I kind of hate Damon." Elena admitted.

"I know. And I know that I probably should, too, but with everything that I know about the past…I just can't. I really don't think he needs one more person that hates him in his life." Bonnie said.

"I know, and I get it Bonnie. I feel bad for him sometimes too, but some of the stuff that he's done…it's just hard to get over."

"Okay." Bonnie said, and Elena left the room. Bonnie got under the soft duvet blanket of the bed and was about to turn off the light when she heard the doorbell ring.

**Damon**

"_I am a vampire. I kill people. I'm a monster." _Damon repeated to himself. "_I don't feel 'affection'. Not for anyone. Except maybe….ugh!"_ Damon punched the wall in frustration, leaving a fist-shaped indent. No matter how much he tried to distract himself, his mind kept drifting to Bonnie again. In every thought he would find something new about her to admire, and it frustrated him to no end, but he couldn't deny the warmth he felt around her. It was odd that she seemed to know everything about his past, but it was also a relief that _someone_ knew about it and understood him, other than his stupid brother. Damon still couldn't believe that Bonnie had saved his life. But what was the thing that had endangered his life in the first place? He guessed it was just another vampire trying to get rid of him. What if it got hold of_ Bonnie_? Damon sat up with a jolt. He had to check on her.

* * *

Damon sped down the road, going way over the speed limit, but there were no other cars nearby. He knew that Bonnie was staying at Elena's house, so he would go there. He just had to know that she was safe. A small house came into view, and he parked outside, got out of the car, and ran across the lawn. He realized that he probably shouldn't just barge in, he was in enough trouble with Elena as it was, so he rang the doorbell. After waiting for what seemed like forever, a petite figure appeared in the doorway.

"Damon?" Bonnie asked, looking at him as if she couldn't believe that he was really there. She was only wearing shorts and a thin tank top, but she had a jacket around her bare shoulders. Damon had to pause once again before he spoke just to admire her beauty.

"I, uh, just wanted to make sure you were okay. You know, because of…what happened." Damon said, all of the words that were trying to come out stumbling over each other.

"_Me_? You were the one that got stabbed. Are _you _okay?" Bonnie asked.

"Of course I am. Vampires heal fast, you know."

"Right." Bonnie said. There was an awkward silence that hung in the air. "Is that why you came?" For the second time that night, Damon looked as if he wanted to say something more, but he didn't.

"Yes, that's all. Is Elena here?" Damon asked.

"She's sleeping. I think that maybe you shouldn't tell her you stopped by."

"That's probably a good idea. Elena and I—we aren't exactly…close." Damon admitted.

"I know, she said that she hated you." Bonnie said, and immediately regretted being so blunt, but Damon wasn't offended or surprised. "She wants me to hate you, I can tell, but I can't. I know too much about you to hate you."

"Well that's funny, because it seems like the better people know me the more they seem to hate me." Damon said, clearly amused.

"Some people just like to judge books by their covers."

"Not _some _people, Bonnie." Damon said, taking a step closer. "All people do." Bonnie stepped closer as well, shutting the door behind her. "Your different, though." He finished.

"Yeah, I'm kind of the definition of 'different'." Bonnie said sheepishly. Damon took yet another step towards her, breathing in her wonderful scent, and looked into her eyes, analyzing to see if there was any trace of fear or uncertainty in them, but he found nothing. Only the starstruck gaze that he had seen on many women in his presence.

"Goodnight, Bonnie." Damon said, and began to walk away.

"Damon?" Bonnie called. His head whipped around suddenly and he turned.

"Yes?"

"Do you hate your brother?" Bonnie asked.

This made Damon freeze. If he had been asked by anyone else, even Stefan himself, he would have said yes without so much as batting an eyelash. He then would have gone on and on for hours on end about how Stefan always acted like such a saint. But this was Bonnie asking him. Bonnie, who seemed to know everything about his past and everything that was going through his mind. She was the one person who understood everything about him. She was the one person he couldn't lie to.

"No." He said, looking at the ground. "No I don't hate my brother. I think he's an idiot, but I don't hate him." After a long moment, Damon finally looked up at her, and was surprised to find her practically beaming at him.

"I don't think he hates you either." Bonnie said.

"How do you know?" Damon asked, and he actually wanted to know.

"Witches intuition." She said with a smirk, and walked inside.

"_She really is the definition of 'different." _He thought, as he walked out into the night.


	9. Love Is All About Risks

**Hey everyone! I'm so sorry that I took so long to post this chapter, but I was really busy over the holidays. I hope you understand! This chapter is pretty much foreshadowing what's to come later in the story (and Damon goes on an accidental ramble about Bonnie's beauty.) Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. If I did, Damon would be my husband by now.**

**Damon**

"_I'm starting to feel a lot like Edward Cullen." _Damon thought to himself, as he pried open the window of the guest bedroom where Bonnie was sleeping. "_Climbing through a window to watch a girl sleep." _But as much as Damon mentally lectured himself to go back to his house, he couldn't. He needed to make sure that the _thing _didn't come back. Whatever 'the thing' was that staked him. Even if it was just some stupid newborn playing a trick, any vampire would be easily lured in by her scent. With this in mind, Damon had walked around the side of the small house, climbed up to the window, and was now standing over the petit witch as she slept, protecting her from any danger.

"Damon."Bonnie sighed in her sleep.

She had said it so clearly that at first Damon thought that she had woken up, but her eyes were still closed peacefully. _"My name." _Damon thought, his eyelids snapping open in surprise. "_She just said my name." _He felt something that was unexplainable, and everything that he had been telling himself before about being a monster completely disappeared.

"My Damon" she cooed, and it was the most beautiful sound that Damon had ever heard.

If he wanted him to be hers, she could have him. She could have his blood, his body, and his soul; he didn't want any of it without her. His earlier realizations snapped back into place, but they were intensified, because instead of merely _wanting_ her, he realized that he _needed _her. He needed someone that understood. He needed someone on his side. Damon leaned down and pressed his lips to her warm forehead.

And in one instant, he saw everything.

* * *

**Bonnie**

Bonnie was having a terrible nightmare, unlike anything she had ever experienced before. The worst part was the she couldn't _do_ anything to stop it, because she wasn't actually in the room. It was if she was watching the scene in front of her on a TV. She could see and hear everything that was happening, but no one could see or hear her, even though she was screaming hysterically. The vision was foggy, and parts of it were cut out and distorted, but she could clearly see Elena laying on the ground, unconscious. Stefan had her in his arms, and he was crying. Everything began to slowly fade away then, and the blurred edges of the vision spread towards the middle until she couldn't see anymore.

* * *

Bonnie's head was still reeling after the strange dream. All throughout the day, she couldn't stop thinking about it and what it meant, even now, after cheerleading practice as she was waiting for Elena to pick her up. Everyone else had left already, and only her and Caroline were left.

"I saw you and Damon at the dance." Caroline said, shattering Bonnie's trail f of thought.

"Oh." Bonnie said lamely. But she knew Caroline wouldn't stop there, she would keep asking questions until she got what she wanted.

"So, are you two, like, a _thing _now?"

"No. We were just dancing, that's all."

"I see." Caroline said coyly. "Well, that's a relief." Bonnie turned toward her in curiosity.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, I went out with him a while ago, and—"

"Wait." Bonnie spun so she was facing Caroline. "You and _Damon_?"

"Yeah. I mean, if you want to go out with him, go ahead. I just wanted to warn you that—" but Caroline's warning was cut off by the sound of the roaring engine of a car, that was suddenly parked right in front of the two girls. They both turned their heads sharply as one of the dark windows rolled down, to reveal none other than Damon Salvatore.

"Need a ride?" He asked Bonnie smoothly.

* * *

**Damon**

Still wondering why he was able to see into Bonnie's dream when he kissed her head the previous night, Damon got out of the car, leaning coolly against the door of his black Ferrari, so that he was facing the two girls, but he was staring at Bonnie intently.

"Elena called and said she couldn't make it, so she told me to pick you up from cheerleading practice." He said. Slowly, and almost reluctantly, he switched his gaze from Bonnie to Caroline.

"Hello, Caroline." He said politely.

"Hi Damon." Caroline squeaked, and it took everything in his power not to roll his eyes. Instead, he focused back on Bonnie.

"So, would you like a ride?" Damon repeated. Bonnie's eyes were wide, and her cheeks were flushed with red, but she graciously accepted the offer.

"Y-yes. Absolutely. Thank you." She stammered. Damon held the door open for her, and she got inside the car.

"Nice seeing you again, Caroline." He said with false sincerity, as he rounded the car to the driver's side.

"Damon?" Caroline asked before he could open the door. He looked up at her in surprise.

"Yes?"

"Bonnie is not a toy. Be careful with her." Caroline hissed with narrowed eyes. This caught Damon off guard; he didn't know how much Caroline remembered about their 'relationship'.

"I'm just saying," Caroline continued, "it seems like you actually like her." Damon looked at Bonnie in the car nervously, trying to gauge if she was hearing any of this, but it didn't look like she was.

"Yes." Damon snapped. "I do actually like her. I'm not going to hurt her."

"You hurt me." Caroline pointed out.

"Like I said," Damon said coldly. "I actually_ like_ her." With that, Damon pulled open the car door furiously and got in, leaving Caroline, standing in front of the school, with her mouth hanging open indignantly as the car drove away.

There was a long silence in the car, before Damon finally asked what he had wanted to ask her since the moment he first saw her.

"Would you like to come out to dinner with me?" Damon asked casually. Bonnie turned sharply to face him.

"Me?" she asked incredulously.

She looked so surprised that Damon had to stifle a laugh. He knew that there was no definite answer; she probably had guys at her feet begging for her attention every day, so there _was _a chance that she could reject him. And if that happened, he had absolutely no intention on compelling her to say yes. He usually had no problem getting girls, but this was _Bonnie_. She wasn't a girl, she was an angel, and angels don't typically fall for demons.

"Oh, Damon. I'd love to, really, I would. It's just—" she paused, and had a reluctant look on her face, "I really don't think Elena would…let me."

"Well, Stefan and Elena obviously won't let us be together 'unsupervised'…but they _are _going out tonight."

"You mean you want to go out without telling them?"

"It seems to be the only option. Do you mind not telling them?"

"No, of course not! Elena's overreacting anyway. I mean, I really don't think your going to hurt me."

"Don't be so sure." He teased, but he was slightly bothered by how quick she was to assume he wasn't going to hurt her. Had she heard anything that she had said to Caroline?

"If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't have accepted your offer, now would've I?"

"Well apparently your not afraid of anything." Damon said, but he was surprised when Bonnie's look suddenly became very serious and she looked away, out the window. There was a long pause.

"I am afraid, actually, of one thing." She admitted slowly.

"What's that?" Damon asked, being careful to not upset her.

"Getting my heart broken." Bonnie said softly. Damon whipped his head to the side to face her in alarm. What kind of stupid, selfish, inconsiderate _fool_ would have the audacity to hurt Bonnie?

"Why do you say that?" he asked, concerned.

"Damon," She began, "If there's one thing that your story has taught me, it's to be careful who I fall for. It's too easy to get hurt." Damon looked into her eyes.

"I really wouldn't advise choosing _me_ as a 'positive role model'. " Damon said. "And also, nobody is going to break your heart. Ever."

"How can you be so sure?" Bonnie asked.

"Well, if they do, _I'm _going to have to deal with them for you." He said, and was pleased when she laughed softly. "And you are absolutely beautiful. And that's coming from someone who has seen decades and decades of beautiful women. Yet somehow, you top them all." Damon finished, looking at the road for once. He couldn't believe he had just said that _out loud_, and even though it was true, he was worried about what she would say. He looked back at her, and saw that she wore a stunned expression.

"Do you really think that?" she asked timidly.

"Of course. As for being careful who you fall for," his , "Love is all about risks." He said simply and stopped the car. "We're here." He said, tearing his eyes away from hers.

"Thank you for picking me up, Damon." Bonnie said as she began to step out of the car.

"Oh, and Bonnie?" Damon called, flashing a charming smile. "I'll pick you up at seven." Bonnie just nodded dazedly and Damon drove off, satisfied.

**I really really really really hope that you all liked this chapter! As a reward for your patience over the holidays, chapter 10 will be up very soon. **

**Oh, and who liked the 'accidental ramble'?**


	10. Because She Understands

**As promised, chapter 10 is here! If there is any confusion, the reason Bonnie is staying at Elena's is because her Dad is on a business trip. How long is he on this business trip? Until I decide to bring him into the story, which may be never. I really hope that you all will enjoy this chapter.**

**Bonnie**

Bonnie had always hated lying, especially lying to her friends, but it wasn't every day that gorgeous vampires asked you out to dinner. She took a deep breath, before swinging open the door to Elena's house, to find Stefan and Elena in the living room talking quietly.

"Well where is she _now_?" Elena asked worriedly.

"I can't believe Damon didn't tell me about this." Stefan said angrily.

"Tell you about what?" Bonnie asked as she shut the door behind her, and Stefan and Elena turned to face her in shock.

"Bonnie! Oh, we were so worried about you." Elena said.

"Why?"

"I called Damon and told him to ask Stefan to pick you up, but he never told Stefan about it. How did you get home?"

"Damon picked me up—he said that you asked him to." Bonnie said nervously. Elena's relieved expression turned to anger at this.

"Great, so he did it on purpose?! I'm going to—"

"Your going to what?" Bonnie interrupted. "Hurt him? No offense, Elena, but your not exactly capable of doing that."

"No, but I am." Stefan said and walked out the door.

"He's not really going to hurt him, is he?" Bonnie asked Elena worriedly once Stefan was gone. Elena looked at her in disbelief.

"No, but Damon could hurt _Stefan_. Easily, in fact."

"He won't." Bonnie said simply. "I have get something from Gram's house. I'll be right back." She said before turning and walking out the door.

* * *

**Damon**

Damon felt strangely elated. He couldn't remember the last time that he had taken a girl out to dinner without the intention of sucking them dry by the end of the night, but tonight he wasn't going to hurt Bonnie. No matter how delicious she smelled, he would never even think of doing that to her. He would treat her to dinner and have her home before Elena returned. Yes, for the first time in a long time, Damon was planning on behaving like an absolute gentleman.

"DAMON?!" A loud yell shattered Damon's thoughts. "_Oh, joy."_ he thought. "_Stefan's in a good mood today." _Damon got up from the couch he was laying on and strode over to the front room, where Stefan's yelling was coming from.

"Why, yes, I had a lovely day, thanks for asking." Damon said casually.

"_Why_ did you not tell me that I was supposed to give Bonnie a ride home from cheerleading practice?" Stefan demanded.

"Oh, right. Elena called, she wanted me to tell you to—"

"I'm serious, Damon."

"Of course you are. You're _always_ serious. You really need to lighten up a bit." Stefan just glared at him. "Relax! I got her home, safe and sound. No need to get all mad." Damon teased.

"I'm not _mad_, Damon, I'm wondering why you would even want anything to do with Bonnie. You really need to leave her alone." Stefan lectured.

"Maybe I wanted to talk to her. Maybe, brother, there _is _no 'ulterior motive' this time. Maybe I just wanted to…get to know her a bit more. Then again," he smirked, "you never seem to trust me, do you?" Damon finished, and disappeared up the stairs.

"Damon?" Stefan called after him, but there was no answer.

* * *

**Bonnie**

"_Great, now I'm lying to my best friend and stealing from my grandmother, all in the same day." _Bonnie thought sarcastically as she rifled through her grandmothers—well, it used to be Katherine's, but it was passed down to her grandmother—jewelry box, in search of the ring that _also_ used to be Katherine's and was passed down. Technically, it wasn't stealing; it would have been given to Bonnie eventually, but she still felt a little guilty about it. Still, she knew who had given it to Katherine, who it rightfully belonged to, and who deserved it the most. And she was going to see that Damon got his ring back. Bonnie found the small, beautiful, and expensive-looking ring and slipped it into her pocket.

"Bonnie?" Bonnie whipped her head around to see her grandmother standing behind her.

"Grams! Oh, you scared me." Bonnie gasped. "I was just—looking at the jewelry. You know how much I love it."

"Yes, it is beautiful, isn't it? Stefan and Damon bought her so many nice things, both vying for her affection." The older woman smiled. "As far as the public new, she was only in a relationship with Stefan. She only ever spoke about Stefan. Damon didn't take it well. That's why he's evil today."

"He's _not _evil!" Bonnie snapped, and her grandmother looked shocked. "I'm sorry, Grams. You know that Damon is always a sensitive subject for me. I have to go, I'm meeting…someone for dinner."

"Who?"

"Just some guy. I'll call you tomorrow!" Bonnie promised as she headed for the door. Once outside, Bonnie ran to her car and drove off, trying to figure out how to curl her hair and do her makeup without Elena noticing.

* * *

**Damon**

Stefan burst through the door of Damon's bedroom, with the cordless phone in his hand.

"Guess who I just got off the phone with?" Stefan asked, somewhat coldly.

"My guess is Elena. I mean, it's been a whole _two hours_ since you guys have talked!" Damon said sarcastically, rolling onto his stomach to face Stefan.

"The Mystic Grill, they were calling to confirm a reservation for tonight." Stefan said, tilting his head to the side expectantly." Damon knew that his plan of not letting Stefan know about anything had failed, but he kept his confident mask on well.

"Your taking Elena to dinner tonight, aren't you?"

"Not at the Mystic Grill." Stefan countered, narrowing his eyes. "Who are you taking to dinner?"

"Must I share with you _all _of the details of my social life?"

"Well, we are brothers, aren't we?"

"Oh, so now that you want something we're 'brothers' again. Is that how it works?" Damon asked.

"Don't change the subject, Damon. Look, I don't actually care who you take to dinner, but tell me this. Is it Bonnie?" Damon opened his mouth to deny it, but for once he couldn't think of anything to say, so he shut it again and looked away.

"Damon, I don't know what you want with Bonnie but Elena wants you to stay away from her."

"So you think I'm just going to do whatever Elena says? That's not me, that's you, Stefan. I don't need to listen to Elena telling me what to do. I don't need to listen to _anyone_ telling me what to do. Have you ever thought that maybe I like being around Bonnie because she _understands? _Because she's the one person who doesn't automatically hate me because of the stories you tell everyone about your 'evil older brother'?" Damon was practically shouting by the time he was finished talking, and Stefan was staring at him, a mixture of shock and realization on his face. Damon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. This had been the second time that Damon had said much more than he had meant to. After what felt like forever, Stefan finally spoke.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but," Stefan paused to look at Damon once more in suspicion, "I think you might actually have feelings for Bonnie." Damon looked up at his brother with a hard gaze, eyes still narrowed, and slowly Damon's features began to soften. His eyebrows pulled together in thought and his lips parted, as if he didn't know what to say. Damon was sure that he had never let his little brother see him like this.

"I'll make you a deal. I won't tell Elena about this, on one condition. You have to promise me that you won't hurt Bonnie." Stefan said reluctantly.

"I—"

"I'm not done. You have to promise that you won't hurt Bonnie _or_ take advantage of her."

"Fine. I promise to not hurt or have sex with Bonnie. Happy now?"

"No, I'm not, because Elena will probably find out eventually, and who knows what will happen."

"Oh no, anything but a pissed off teenage girl! I'm terrified." Damon said sarcastically and got up to leave the room, but he paused at the doorway. "Thank you, Stefan." He said quietly.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Stefan turned to face Damon, with a smile on his face.

"Thanks."

"Come again?"

"I said thank you, alright?" Damon said, but his usually unemotional tone was laced with humor.

"Damon Salvatore says thank you. That's a new one." Stefan joked. "And Damon?" he called before Damon could leave.

"Yeah?"

"Good luck with Bonnie." Stefan said honestly. Damon smiled in response before walking down the hall, feeling a bit lightheaded. In 150 years, he had never felt more like he and Stefan were actual brothers. Maybe a brother was what he needed.

**Okay, so originally I was going to make this chapter longer. I was actually planning on getting the actual date scene **_**in **_**this chapter, but I got a bit too wrapped up in Stefan and Damon's brother-ness. Oh, and the whole thing with Bonnie's dream and Damon being able to see into her head is going to be a part of the story—just not yet.**

**Oh, and vote for The Vampire Diaries as your "favorite new TV drama" for the People's choice awards! (.)**

**As always, reviews are much much much appreciated! The more I get, the faster I update. Have a nice Tuesday!**


	11. She was Everywhere

**I know this took a while, but I needed to make this chapter as good as possible. I was a bit disappointed with the number of reviews I got—only 4? I know from the story traffic that many many more people than that are reading my story. Please review! Special thanks to Pixelperfect93', EdwardCullenlover619, and KJCullenHatterSalvitoreBloome, and Rapid Squirell for reviewing chapter 10!**

**I really think that you will all enjoy this!**

**Damon**

Damon took a deep breath before knocking on the door of Elena's house twice. After waiting a moment, the door finally swung open. Bonnie stood there, looking absolutely stunning. She was wearing dark jeans that clung to her slim legs, elongating them, and a beautiful red blouse. Her light brown skin seemed to glow. When she saw him, she smiled that breathtaking smile that always warmed his heart. His eyes couldn't help but trace along the blouse's plunging neckline, before they locked with her deep brown eyes.

"Hey, Damon." Bonnie beamed radiantly.

"Bonnie." Damon said, still stunned. "You look—amazing."

"Thanks." She breathed, and he could tell that she was blushing. They just stared at each other for a few moments before Bonnie stepped outside and he lead her to his car.

* * *

**(A/N: To avoid any confusion…they are at the restaurant now.)**

"So, your grandmother is still teaching you how to use your powers?" Damon asked conversationally once the waitress had delivered their drinks and taken their order for food.. Damon, of course, hadn't ordered anything except a glass of wine, and Bonnie was drinking a coke.

"Yeah, I'm not that experienced yet. I'm still working on it. I've definitely broken a few things here and there." Bonnie admitted, looking slightly embarrassed. Damon chuckled.

"What about your mother?" Damon asked. "Is she a witch, as well?" His smile faltered as he noticed Bonnie's expression becoming more serious and morose.

"My mother died a few years ago." Bonnie said quietly. This struck a deep-rooted chord in Damon's heart.

"I'm sorry, I know what it's like. Stefan and I—our mother died when I was a child, I was only two years old. She never really recovered from Stefan's birth, and died a few months later." Bonnie's face turned from sad to concerned in a flash. Her care and kindness for others never ceased to amaze Damon.

"You never knew your mom?" Bonnie asked shakily. "That's so…I can't even imagine…" Unthinkingly, she rested her hand on top of his

"Yes, but, I've been able to manage."

"You don't blame _Stefan_, do you? He was only a baby."

"No—no I don't. When I was younger, I did, but over time I began to realized that it wasn't his fault." Damon said. Bonnie smiled softly.

"You used to be close, didn't you?" she asked.

"Yes, we were inseparable. Best friends, in fact. Sometimes I wish that it could be like that again." Bonnie leaned forward, intrigued.

"But don't you see, Damon? It _can_ be like that. Couldn't you would both just swallow your pride and call it a truce?"

"It's not that simple."

"Why isn't it?" Bonnie asked doubtfully. Damon couldn't answer, because he honestly didn't know why. "Well, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"Don't you know it all anyway?" Damon reminded her.

"I've never heard it from anyone who was actually there. Speaking of which, what _have _you been up to for the past century and a half?"

"You might not want to know."

"Try me." She tested dubiously. Well, this was the girl that wasn't afraid of anything that he was talking to. He began to tell her stories that were all very different. Some were amusing, and some were downright horrific, but she looked genuinely interested in every single one of them, as they talked for hours with each other.

* * *

**Bonnie**

"I had a really great time, Damon." Bonnie said, smiling softly. They were now standing on the porch just outside Elena's front door, but she and Stefan weren't home yet.

"So did I. We had some quite…interesting conversations." Damon said. Bonnie's mind flashed to the ring in her purse, that she had meant to give him before. It suddenly felt like it weighed ten times heavier.

"I also wanted to give you this." Bonnie said, taking the ring out of her purse nervously. "It's yours. Well, it _was_ yours. You gave it to Katherine when you—well, you remember." She finished. She saw that Damon was staring at the ring oddly.

"That was the ring I gave her when I asked her to marry me." Damon said, his voice stuttering a bit. "Thank you." He said, shaking himself out of the memory and putting the ring in his pocket.

"It's a beautiful ring."

"Well, Katherine had expensive taste. She said no when I asked her to marry me, though."

"Why?" Bonnie asked, regretting the question a second after it came out of her mouth. She knew the answer already, but she couldn't imagine why anyone would say no to spending eternity with Damon.

"I just…" Damon trailed off. "I just wasn't good enough. I was stupid to believe that she would accept my proposal anyway." Bonnie's eyebrows drew together in confusion. Why would someone like Damon think that he wasn't good enough?

"Oh, but you don't still think that do you?" Bonnie asked. Damon didn't respond, he just looked away, the dim lighting of the porch casting beautiful shadows across his pale face. Bonnie knew that the mere thought of him being anything less than perfect was crazy. She had to tell him everything.

"Damon, that's—that's ridiculous. Your funny, your fun to be around, and, quite frankly, your gorgeous." Bonnie paused. "Your also sweet, even if you don't see it. And you should never let anyone tell you that you aren't good enough." Bonnie stared into his eyes, willing him to believe her. "Your _special_ Damon. I can tell." There was a long silence that hung in the air.

"Goodnight, Bonnie." Damon said finally, something strange flickering in his eyes.

"Goodnight, Damon." Bonnie turned, opened the door, and took only one step inside before stopping in her tracks and turning around.

She was surprised to find that Damon hadn't moved and inch, and was staring at her with the same expression that was undoubtedly on her face at the moment. It was a look of longing, of wanting, but also a deep restraint. But all of the sudden, something changed. She wasn't sure if it was a sudden burst of confidence, or the need to restore the part inside him that failed to see his own perfection, or maybe the need finally just got too strong for them both. But something made Bonnie take two long strides across the porch, closing the distance between them, and kiss Damon on the lips. **(A/N: How much would y'all hate me if I ended the chapter right here?)**

* * *

**Damon**

Time stopped. All of the sudden, everything froze. Nothing mattered except Bonnie, and all that Damon could feel was her lips pressed softly against his. He closed his eyes, but even then he still saw her. She was everywhere, and he needed her. Damon's hands found her slender waist and wrapped around it, bringing her closer to him, and he felt her own hands tangling themselves in his hair. In that instant, with both their bodies pressed together so tightly, and tongues exploring every inch of the other's mouth, Damon completely forgot what he was. When he was around her, he wasn't a hunter or a predator, and she wasn't his prey. They were just two people, who could no longer deny the attraction they felt towards each other. Their lips broke apart, but they kept their arms wrapped around each other tightly. Bonnie's head fell to Damon's shoulder, and Damon felt genuinely _happy_. He felt the tiny movements of her breathing under him as he clung to her, and it was pure bliss. She stood on her toes to whisper in his ear.

"Deep down, Damon, you really are good. You don't need to kill." She whispered.

The sensation of her lips grazing his ear was enough to almost make him shiver, but the part of his brain that was still functioning correctly registered what she had said, and he understood it. Even though so many people had told him not to kill before, when _she_ said it, it actually got through to him. He wanted to do whatever made her happy, and if that meant not killing, he wouldn't. He just wasn't sure how he was going to fulfill that request yet.

They separated their arms from each other, but Bonnie kept a firm grasp on

Damon's hand and started to pull him inside the still halfway open door.

"I can't come in." Damon said. Bonnie spun around to face him.

"We have to talk." Bonnie pleaded.

"I know, but Stefan and Elena are going to be home any minute. I'll see you tomorrow."

"You promise?" Bonnie asked. Her eyes, so wide with innocence, made a smile tug at the corners of Damon's lips.

"I promise." He said, and he meant it. "You should go inside." He suggested.

"Okay." Bonnie resigned quietly and went inside.

* * *

**Bonnie**

The second Bonnie shut the door, reality sunk in. She had just kissed Damon Salvatore; and he had kissed her back! He hadn't pushed her away, tried to bite her, or tried to take advantage of her. Instead, he had just put his arms around her and kissed her sweetly. "_And he sure did know what he was doing._" she thought dizzily, as she collapsed into a big living room chair. It definitely wasn't Bonnie's first kiss, but it might as well have been, because she had never felt such a thrill, such an excited rush, when kissing someone ever before. She knew that she could spend hours thinking about it, however, she had to change. Elena would definitely have some serious questions if she walked in to find Bonnie standing there in a dress smiling like an idiot. Bonnie trudged up the stairs, kicked off her heels, and shimmied out of her jeans and shirt, replacing them with comfortable sweat pants and a tank top. She also put her hair up in a ponytail and took off the makeup she was wearing, so that there was not a hint left on her that she had been out at all tonight; except for the blissful smile that was still plastered on her face.

"Bonnie! I'm home!" she heard from Elena downstairs.

"I'm coming!" Bonnie called as she raced down the stairs. She saw that Elena and Stefan were sitting in the living room on the couch by the time she got downstairs. They really did look perfect together; Bonnie hoped that she would find someone charming and sweet like Stefan someday. Perhaps, though, she already had. "Did you two have a nice time?" she asked them.

"Oh, it was _wonderful_." Elena gushed. "We went to this great restaurant and the food was delicious and—oh, it was just so nice. What did you do when we were out?" she asked Bonnie, tilting her head to the side.

"Oh, um…" Bonnie stammered, racking her brain for something believable. "Homework." She finished, biting her bottom lip nervously. It looked as though Elena believed it, but Stefan was looking away. Was it just Bonnie or—was he smiling? If he had been, it lasted only seconds before he controlled his expression.

"I'll make some coffee." Elena said, getting up from the couch and striding into the kitchen.

She was so thoughtful and bubbly all the time, and Bonnie hated lying to her. Ever since Elena had gotten back together with Stefan, she had seemed so much happier. Bonnie would hate to ruin that by making her upset. "_Oh, God." _Bonnie thought. Realization hit her painfully. If Elena ever found out about her and Damon, about any of it, she would be furious. Especially since Elena had specifically told Bonnie _not_ to see Damon. Bonnie wasn't prepared to ruin their lifelong friendship—not even for Damon. She knew what she had to do; if Elena couldn't accept Damon, then Bonnie would just have to tell Damon that she wasn't romantically interested in him, even though she definitely was. No matter how much it pained her…she would do it. For Elena.

"Damon told me, by the way." Stefan said conversationally, once Elena was out of the room. Panic washed over Bonnie's face. "Relax, I'm not going to tell Elena." He assured her.

"Oh." Bonnie said, faking a gracious smile, when really she felt horrible. Great, now they were making _Stefan_ lie to Elena, too! She knew this had to stop.

"The thing is, and I'm not trying to lecture you, but, Damon's unpredictable. He gets angry easily, and, needless to say, he's dangerous." Stefan said. Bonnie just nodded slowly. She knew all this, but it would never change the way she felt about him. "And then," he paused, "He sees you and everything changes. I can see that you make him happy, and that's something I haven't seen in a very long time." Stefan finished, smiling at her. Bonnie had no words. This was obviously going to be a lose-lose situation; either she hurt Elena or she hurt Damon.

"Everyone keeps telling my he's evil, but in my heart I know that he's good, Stefan. I'm glad that you see it, too." Bonnie smiled up at him. "But I really can't risk my friendship with Elena. I know that she would be mad if she ever found out about this—and now we've dragged _you_ into it, too—so I think I need to tell Damon that we can only be…friends." Stefan's smile had disappeared and he now looked deep in thought.

"Well, it's your choice, of course." He said simply. Bonnie wanted to ask him what _he _thought she should do, but knew it was wrong to ask him to choose between his brother and the girl he loved. Bonnie almost laughed, remembering the pact that she and Elena had made in fifth grade. They had promised each other that no matter what, they would never let a guy come in between them. She guessed that the term "guy" applied to vampires, too.

**I know, I know. I'm just as pissed as you guys are about Bonnie's little plan to tell Damon that they can only be friends, but I had to promote the whole message about how you should never let a guy ruin a friendship…blah blah blah…. But trust me, all hope is not lost.**

**Please please please review, and also, let me know what you want to happen in the next few chapters, because I don't exactly have a plan yet.**

**Toodles!**


	12. The whole feelings thing

**So sorry for the long wait! I got really busy, and I also wanted to make this chapter perfect. Vampire Diaries is on tomorrow (well, it will probably be today by the time you are reading this). Enjoy this chapter AND the new episode!**

**By the way...this chapter is really really long.**

**Bonnie**

Bonnie heard the knock at the door she had been dreading all morning, and stood up to go answer it, but Elena beat her to it. Bonnie pressed herself against the wall of the kitchen so that she couldn't be seen from the front door. She had to strain to hear what they were saying.

"Let me see her." Damon's smooth voice demanded.

"Why?" Elena asked. Bonnie could almost hear her eyes narrowing.

"Because I have to ask her something. Now if you don't _mind_—" Damon pushed past Elena, heading for the kitchen. Bonnie pushed away from the wall, leaning on the counter in an attempt to look casual. He smirked when he saw her. Elena followed close behind, appearing in the doorway next to him.

"It's okay, Elena. I need to talk to Damon." Bonnie dismissed her. Elena looked back and forth between them, before going upstairs. Bonnie hoped she wasn't still listening.

"Good morning, Bonnie." Damon said. It wasn't sarcastic at all, which made it that much harder to say what she was about to say.

"We have to talk." Bonnie stated.

"Yes…I think we do."

"Damon…we can't do this. _I _can't do this. We can't be together." Bonnie said reluctantly. She thought that maybe it would be easier if she just came right out with it, but nothing would make this any easier. Although he would never admit it, Bonnie could see the sheer hurt and pain in his eyes, before it was covered quickly by his detached, nothing-hurts-me expression. It didn't look like he was going to say anything, so she spoke again. "I don't know what happened last night, and I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it, but I'm sorry I kissed you."

"You…" Damon trailed off.

"I just can't lie to Elena any more. I already feel terrible about sneaking off last night." Bonnie explained.

"You could tell her." Damon suggested quietly.

"I can't do that. She just won't understand." Bonnie took a step closer to him, looking into his eyes. "Do _you _understand?" she asked. There was a long moment of silence, before the blank look in Damon's eyes was replaced by the sarcastic, cold look that she hadn't seen since the first day she met him. She had figured out that it was his way of self-defense.

"Of course I understand. So sorry to _bother _you." His words had a bitter edge to them, and without a goodbye or even another glance, he exited the room and was out the door. She wanted to call after him, to explain, to ask him if there was any way they could be friends, but Damon didn't seem to have anything in between enemies and people that he loved. She couldn't shake the feeling that she had just lost something, something great. Bonnie was not alone for long, though, because Elena was downstairs again, undoubtedly having heard the door slam.

"What was that about?" Elena asked her expectantly.

"I don't know." Bonnie lied.

"Well, just so you know, Tyler's party is tonight."

"Tonight?" Bonnie repeated, tearing her gaze from the door to Elena. "I don't know. We do have school tomorrow…"

"Oh, come on, we'll be home by ten." Elena promised. Bonnie considered this. She wasn't really in a party mood, but she figured it would be a good distraction.

"Fine." Bonnie said. "I have to get out of the house, I'm going for a walk." Before Elena could say anything, Bonnie was outside. She didn't know why, but was secretly hoping that Damon would be waiting for her. But she was alone.

**Damon**

Bonnie was beautiful. Bonnie was the most stunning girl he had ever laid eyes on. But she wasn't just beautiful; she was special on the inside, too. That much Damon understood. What he didn't understand, however, was why he felt like this.

He wondered why he felt so worthless and unwanted. Damon The Human had had this feeling before, he was sure of it. He had felt it a lot, growing up. Damon The Vampire, however, had not. No girl had ever told him _no _before. No girl had ever said that they didn't want him. No girl had ever denied him what he wanted from her…nor had he ever felt the need to ask for what he wanted from anyone. Damon had always liked how every pair of female eyes he saw would turn in his direction when he walked by, and he liked the way that he could hear their pulse racing when he would kiss their warm necks. He fed off girls upon whim, and had never felt guilty about any of it.

Then he met _her_, and everything changed. She didn't look at him hungrily, the way the other girls did every day, she looked at him with compassion and kindness. Even now, as he tried as hard as he could to push her out of his mind, he couldn't stop thinking about the electric thrill that had ran through his body when she had pressed her rose petal-like lips to his. She had given him a reason not to kill humans anymore. She had made him remember what it was like to _be _human.. She had made him feel alive again.

And then, she had told him that they couldn't be together.

Yes, now Damon could remember the name for what he was feeling. He felt rejected. It made him feel angry, too, that she had led him to believe that she wanted him, and then she pushed him away. He needed something to take his anger out on. That's when something moved in his peripheral vision. He hadn't noticed where he was before, and only now did he stop to take in his surroundings. After the trip to Elena's house, Damon hadn't felt at all like going back to his house, where he would have to explain everything to Stefan, who would be sickeningly sympathetic about trying to get him to admit that he had actual "feelings". He wasn't quite ready for that yet. Instead, he had simply walked until he reached the woods, and from there he kept walking until he reached the small clearing where his old house used to be. It wasn't like he wanted to reminisce about his memories, but this place was where he was born, and it was one of the few places that made him feel truly at home. He turned to find what it was that he had seen moving in the woods, and soon spotted it. Just an plain old average-sized deer. There were plenty of those around here. Then he got an idea.

He had three justifications for what he did next. The first was thirst. He hadn't fed in much too long, and, now that he considered it, he was extremely thirsty. He needed blood, and fast. The second was curiosity. Stefan fed off animals to survive, so what did they taste like? Damon had never felt the need to substitute animals for humans, but he wanted to know how different it was compared to human blood. The third was pure anger. He was frustrated and angry, but more of himself than Bonnie. He shouldn't have let her get into his head like that, and make him feel the way he did about her. He was frustrated that he still couldn't get her out of his head, and needed _something_ to take his anger out on. Even if it was a mere animal, killing always made him feel dominant, and in control. About five minutes later, the deer was laying motionless on the forest floor.

"_Well, that wasn't completely terrible." _Damon thought. Maybe Stefan didn't have it _so _bad. Animals didn't require mind-control, so Damon decided that maybe he could incorporate a few into his diet out of convenience. A deer or two could make a good snack when he didn't feel like going through all the trouble of seducing girls, compelling them, etcetera. "_This doesn't mean I'm any more like my brother. I just felt like eating something." _Damon assured himself. "_It could have just as easily been a human." _

**(A/N: I really don't know why I made him eat a deer…)**

* * *

**~~~~~evening~~~~~**

**Bonnie**

Bonnie instantly regretted giving into Elena when she had persuaded her to come to Tyler's party. All she wanted that night was peace and quiet, so that she could think and figure things out. She had only realized this after she had walked in the door of the Lockwood mansion, with the pulsing music and crowd of people. Now it was an hour into the party, and she already had a headache. It didn't help that Tyler wouldn't leave her alone. She couldn't avoid him easily—it _was _his house. She just needed to get outside. Getting up from the couch, she was sitting on, she maneuvered through the crowd to find Elena, who was having a casual conversation with a girl from their history class.

"Elena, I'm going outside for a minute." Bonnie informed her.

"Is everything okay?" Elena asked.

"Just need some air." Bonnie said. Once she was outside, she ran across the lawn and began walking along the sidewalk in the dimly lit neighborhood. She noticed that the houses were nice, but most of them were shacks compared to the prestigious Lockwood mansion. However, she was only a few yards away from the house when a figure began to take shape in the darkness, locking her muscles in place.

**Damon**

Ignoring the voice inside his head screaming at him that he had promised himself not to do this, Damon kept walking along the sidewalk in the dark, waiting for prey to find him. A figure began to take shape in the in the darkness. It was small, but it was clearly not a child. "_Perfect_" he thought maliciously. And whoever it was, they were coming towards him. He couldn't see their face, but he didn't care. Thirst overpowered curiosity, at that point, and all he could focus on was human blood. Taking advantage of his enhanced vampire abilities, he ran so that he was behind the small girl, capturing her shoulders in his hands from behind. He heard her scream and jump in his iron grasp. His canines extended, and he began to incline his head to the girl's neck.

"Damon!" she screamed.

He didn't know how she knew his name, but he didn't care. Something clicked in his brain, then; her voice was familiar. Much too familiar, but he ignored every sense in his body telling him to stop and prepared to bite into her neck.

"Damon, stop, please! It's me! It's _Bonnie_!"

Bonnie._ Bonnie. BONNIE! The_ man in Damon overpowered the monster, as he realized _why _her voice was so familiar, _why _she smelled so good, and _why_ something inside him was telling him to stop. His grip on Bonnie's shoulders loosened, and she spun to face him, her big, heart melting tear-filled eyes fixing on Damon's, and he let go of her completely. Damon was disgusted with himself. Had he really just almost attacked Bonnie? Has he really just almost _killed_ Bonnie? He waited for her to scream again, run, or both, but she didn't move. She just stood there, with no anger or accusation on her face, only sadness. Instead of getting angry with him, she simply reached out and touched his face. It drove him crazy how his skin tingled at her warm touch. Her palm just rested on his cheek for a few moments, and her eyes burned into his with an incredible intensity. It only made him feel more regret for what he had almost done.

**Bonnie**

"This isn't you, Damon." Bonnie said, removing her hand from his face.

"Your wrong about me. I'm a hunter. You can't change who I am." Damon stated flatly.

Bonnie saw the walls going up around his soul again; the walls that kept everyone out. She desperately wanted him to see what she was trying to tell her. She had every urge to go up to him and kiss him again, and remind him once again of how amazing he was and tell him that she still cared about him, but she couldn't.

"I—" she started, but didn't know what to say, and had to try again. "Damon, I don't want to change you. I like you just the way you are. I only want to help you see that you don't need to be this person, because this isn't _you_." Damon's deep blue eyes were barely visible in the darkness, but Bonnie strained to see them, yearning for some hint that he didn't truly believe that he was a monster. His eyes, and her psychic senses, told her nothing.

"Why do you care? You don't want me for anything. You kissed me, and then you pushed me away, and now that I think about it, that's pretty close to what Katherine did. I can see how you two are related, because you're _just like her_." Damon practically hissed the last three words.

Bonnie had so much she wanted to say, but the sting of what he had said buried the words. The last thing she had wanted was this. Beneath all the anger, Bonnie saw that there she had caused him pain, and enough that he was actually comparing her to Katherine. She could feel tears forming in her eyes, but she knew that crying wouldn't help at all. But what could she do to help him? For once, did she have nothing that she could say to him to make him feel better? Would telling him the honest truth even fix what she had done this time? Bonnie decided that she had to try.

"If you think I don't want you…" she trailed off. Now she knew what to say, she just couldn't form the words—no, feelings—into a sentence. She had to come up with something fast. Damon turned his back on her and walked away. She could see him now, because he had stepped into the pool of light outside the Lockwood's house, but she could only see the back of his leather jacket as he walked farther and farther away from her. "Damon!" she called out desperately. His step faltered slightly before continuing, but he was walking slower now. She took a deep breath before she spoke.

"Damon, the only reason I said those things was because I didn't want Elena to feel like I lied to her or betrayed her. I didn't think she would understand." He had come to a complete stop now but hadn't turned around. "And I still think that it might take a while if I tried to make her see everything. Elena would freak out." His head was tilted up, like he was looking at the stars, still unmoving on the sidewalk. She was just grateful that he was listening to her, so she continued. "But I'm going to tell her, and she's going to have to deal with it because…" Bonnie closed her eyes. "Because I've never felt this way about anyone else before." Opening her eyes, she saw that he was turned around now, looking at her. For a moment, she thought she saw in his eyes what she had seen the previous night; the look of longing and caring that he wore so well on his face. For a moment, she thought he was going to do what she wanted him to do so badly; to walk back to her and kiss her hold her in his strong arms, and tell her that he wasn't angry with her, but he didn't. Instead, he did the last thing she expected him to do. There was a rush of wind, and he was gone.

"Damon?" Bonnie said, almost in tears again. "Don't go, Damon." She called into the darkness, hoping he was still close enough to hear her, but it was no use. He was gone.

"Bonnie? Are you alright?" Bonnie turned toward the house, to see Elena standing on the porch. _This _wasn't how she wanted to tell Elena, but how much had Elena heard? Certainly, Damon would have heard if Elena had come outside. Was that why he had left?

"I'm okay." Bonnie said, but her voice cracked at the end and it gave her away. Elena ran over to her, wrapping her arms around her comfortingly as Bonnie shook with sobs.

* * *

"And he just _left_?" Elena spoke for the first time since Bonnie had begun the explanation about her and Damon. When they got home from Tyler's party, Bonnie had decided that it was time to tell the truth to her about everything, especially since the odds of her and Damon ever being anything more than friends—if they could even be friends—didn't look so great after tonight.

"Yes. I don't know why, maybe he just heard you coming and left." Bonnie shrugged.

"I can't believe him." Elena growled.

"Don't be mad at him."

"I have every right to be mad at him! He nearly killed you, and then he was a jerk to you. But what I really can't believe is that you actually have feelings for him. For _Damon._" Elena shook her head once, disbelieving.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But it doesn't even matter anymore, if he felt the same way about me he would have told me."

"You never know, with Damon." Elena mumbled. Bonnie looked up at her confusedly.

"What are you saying?" Bonnie asked.

"I'm saying that he might be hiding what he's _actually_ feeling." Despite herself, a small thrill of excitement coursed through Bonnie when Elena propositioned this, but the irony that Elena was _encouraging _the concept of Damon feeling more for her than bloodlust snapped her back into reality.

"And what if he is?" Bonnie asked suspiciously.

"Bonnie," Elena began, reaching across the table to pat Bonnie's hand. "You're my best friend, and I want you to be happy. From what you've told me, it seems like he really does care about you. In fact, you might even be a good influence on him." Elena shrugged. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but, if Damon makes you happy, and you really are determined to change him, then I think you should try." Elena's look of encouragement and warmth faded abruptly. "If he tries anything with you, though, I'll have a stake through his—"

"Alright, I think I'm going to bed now." Bonnie laughed.

"Well, we can talk about it in the morning." Elena said.

"Okay." With that, Bonnie placed her coffee mug in the dishwasher and brushed her teeth, before turning out the bedroom light and climbing under the covers. That's when the nightmare started again.

**Damon**

Damon was determined to make things right. He couldn't believe himself. After thinking about Bonnie all day, and then hearing her tell him that she actually _meant _something by that kiss from last night…it should have made him happy. No, it should have made him grab her right then and there and kiss her passionately. That's what he wanted to do. He decided that he might as well accept that he had genuine feelings for her now, because no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, she was always in his thoughts.

This was what led him to be sitting on her bedside, gently caressing her cheek as she slept. He wanted so much to kiss her again, and those adorable pink lips were tempting, but he resisted. He was content just being next to her, watching her in the peaceful state of sleep. It wasn't long before she began to stir. Damon frowned when he noticed her whimpering softly in her sleep. He knew that it was probably just a bad dream, but he didn't like seeing her in discomfort. Soon, the whimpers became short, quick gasps, and she turned back and forth, tangling the sheets around her. She was clearly in distress, and then began mumbling words that Damon couldn't make out. It was the first actual words that he could understand that pushed him over the edge.

"Stop! Don't hurt him!" Bonnie cried, thrashing around in her bed.

"Bonnie! Bonnie, wake up." Damon said, shaking her gently. She shot up in bed with a wild gasp, and stifled a scream when she saw the dark figure perched lightly on the side of her bed. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she knew who it was.

"Damon?" Bonnie whimpered, the tears from her dream still running down her face.

"Yes, it's me. Look, I know your probably wondering why I'm here, but—" but Bonnie wasn't wondering why he was there, she was only grateful, because she was terrified of whatever that thing was in her dream, that was hurting everyone she cared about.

"Oh, Damon! It was horrible. It was hurtingyou, Damon!" Bonnie blubbered desperately. "And it was more than just a dream, I can feel it. It was a premonition."

"Bonnie, what's wrong? Tell me everything." He sat down next to her on the bed and put his hands on her shoulders, steadying her. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes for a long, painful moment, before bursting into tears again. Bonnie buried her face into his chest and he clutched her small body to him, cradling her like a child. "Shh." He whispered in her ear over and over again, running his fingers through her long, beautiful hair in an effort to calm her down.

"You're safe, I'm right here. Nobody is going to hurt you." He promised her. Once she finally lifted her head, she told him.

"It wasn't trying to hurt me, it wanted you. It wanted to kill you, and it was much more powerful than you and Stefan put together. But wait a second—you're here! I thought you were made at me." Damon couldn't help but smile at the way her childlike eyes lit up, and how she changed her mood so quickly.

"No, I'm not mad at you." He said, and he moved so that he was no longer touching her. "Look, I was a jerk earlier. I didn't mean any of the stuff that I said. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, you were just angry." Bonnie said, the tears drying on her face. Damon just shook his head.

"That's no excuse. I only left because I heard Elena coming, and--" he stopped, reminding himself once again that he was talking to Bonnie, and he couldn't lie to her. Well, he could, but she wouldn't believe him. "I left because I was confused. I was so sure that I could just avoid seeing you after this morning, but it didn't work out that way. All day, you were all I could think about, and then when you told me that you had feelings for me, I didn't know what to do, so I just…left." By the end of his monologue, Damon felt even worse than he had before. What would she think of him now, now that he had openly admitted to literally running away from his problems?

**Bonnie**

"Damon, you don't have to apologize." Bonnie mumbled, concentrating on the loose thread of the blanket that she was fiddling with in her hands. "I understand that I hurt you, and if you hate me now, then I completely get it."

"I don't hate you." Damon said, running a hand through his silky dark hair. He waited for an endless moment, looking like he was about to say something he didn't want to admit. "I like you, Bonnie. I like you a lot. I don't know where it came from, and it's a little disorienting, but I do like you. There's something about you that's really special. "

Bonnie was shocked. She couldn't believe that all of this was coming from Damon. Damon, who, upon first meeting her, had threatened her life. Damon, who showed no compassion or caring to anyone. But, it was also Damon whose personality had captivated her from when her family first told her about him. Damon, who she had felt such a strong connection with when she had kissed him. Damon, who, despite the bad things that he claimed to be, was truly amazing.

"And the only reason I didn't tell you earlier today, was because I didn't want to go through it again. I didn't want to go through the pain…" Damon's voice faltered. Bonnie just kept shaking her head, disbelieving, as she laced her fingers through his.

"You don't have to go through any more pain, Damon." Bonnie told him softly, and it came out as almost a whisper. Without any more words, he kissed her softly.

The kiss started off gentle. Bonnie wrapped her arms around his neck, and his hands found her waist. She could feel the connection again, and it was enough to make her dizzy, but Bonnie found herself wanting more. She took control of the kiss, pressing Damon onto the bed, and welcoming his cool tongue into her mouth. A low moan came from his throat, and Bonnie could feel his tenuous hold on self-control flickering. They kissed for what seemed like hours, but it was only minutes before Damon pulled away abruptly, looking a bit flustered.

"I'm really not good at this, you know." Damon admitted.

"At what? Kissing? Oh you are, believe me." Bonnie said nervously.

"No, not that." Damon chuckled. "I meant the whole...well…_feelings_ thing. It's not something I'm used to and—" Damon was cut off as Bonnie kissed him again, but more softly this time.

"I guess I should go now." Damon sighed reluctantly after a few minutes.

"No, stay." Bonnie pleaded.

"What would Elena think if she found me in your room tomorrow morning? I highly doubt she would be as kind about it as you were." Damon said, a mischievous glint in his eyes, but he lowered himself back down to the bed and Bonnie rolled onto her side to face him.

"I told her everything already." Bonnie admitted. Damon looked surprised.

"How did that go over?"

"Surprisingly well, not that I think she actually _approves_ yet. That may take a while."

"I've got all the time in the world." Damon said, flashing a brilliant smile, before a serious look came across his face. "By the way, the thing I said about you being like Katherine, I didn't mean it."

"Oh." Bonnie said softly, feeling disappointed even though she knew that it was ridiculous.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, when you said that I was just like Katherine, I was a little hurt but I was also kind of glad." Bonnie admitted.

"Glad?" Damon repeated incredulously.

"Well, you said that she was really beautiful, sexy, and charming. I guess I was a little flattered to be compared to her." Bonnie felt very silly and embarrassed, and was looking down at the pillow beneath her. Damon began to chuckle.

"Bonnie, you're—" Damon paused, tilting her chin up with his finger. "You _are _beautiful, sexy, and charming. But you're also _more _than that. You're kind, caring, and you could bring out the best in anybody. Even me." She shifted so that they were in a more comfortable position. They were still lying on the bed next to each other, so she rested her head on his shoulder comfortingly.

"Damon, will you stay with me tonight?" Bonnie repeated, widening her eyes pleadingly. She had already asked the question, but he hadn't ever said that he would stay.

"I don't think that that's such a good—"

"Please, I keep having these awful nightmares, and I would feel so much better if you were here." Damon stared at her for a long moment, before giving in.

"Alright." He resigned, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

Bonnie smiled and closed her eyes, nuzzling into the crook of his neck. It wasn't long before she fell asleep, and never once did a nightmare creep into her mind. Even in sleep, her subconscious mind was aware that he was next to her the whole night.

**Okay, well, this chapter started a lot of things. What's going to happen with Damon and Bonnie? What's with the psychic dreams? **

**Vampire Diaries returns tomorrow! Who else is insanely excited?!**


End file.
